Deactivation timer in a wireless device and wireless network

ABSTRACT

A wireless device receives one or more messages comprising configuration parameters for a plurality of cells comprising a secondary cell. A deactivation timer may be disabled for the secondary cell in response to the configuration parameters comprising periodic resource allocation configuration parameters for configuring a periodic resource allocation of the secondary cell. A downlink control information (DCI) indicating activation of the periodic resource allocation may be received. The DCI may comprise a radio resource assignment. One or more transport blocks (TBs) employing the radio resource assignment may be transmitted.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/670,857, filed Aug. 7, 2017, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/371,792, filed Aug. 7, 2016 and U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/372,643, filed Aug. 9, 2016, all of whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present disclosureare described herein with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting example sets of OFDM subcarriers as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example transmission time and receptiontime for two carriers in a carrier group as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an example diagram depicting OFDM radio resources as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of a base station and a wirelessdevice as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D are example diagrams for uplinkand downlink signal transmission as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an example diagram for a protocol structure with CA and DC asper an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an example diagram for a protocol structure with CA and DC asper an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows example TAG configurations as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is an example message flow in a random-access process in asecondary TAG as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 10 is an example diagram depicting Activation/Deactivation MACcontrol elements as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 11 is an example diagram depicting example subframe offset valuesas per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is an example diagram depicting example uplink SPS activationand release as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are example tables for determining a PHICH resource asper an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is an example mapping between Cyclic Shift for DMRS field inPDCCH/EPDCCH and n_(DMRS) as per an aspect of an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 16 is an example field values for validation of a grant as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is an example field values for validation of a grant as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 is an example field values for validation of a grant as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 is an example field values for validation of a grant as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 20 is an example field values for validation of a grant as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 21 is an example procedure for validation of a grant as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 is an example field values for validation of a grant as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 23 is an example field values for validation of a grant as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 24 is an example mapping between carrier field in PDCCH/EPDCH andn_(CIF) as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 25 is an example procedure for managing an SCell deactivation timeras per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 26 is an example procedure for managing an SCell deactivation timeras per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 27 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 28 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 29 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 30 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 31 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 32 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments of the present disclosure enable operation ofcarrier aggregation. Embodiments of the technology disclosed herein maybe employed in the technical field of multicarrier communicationsystems.

The following Acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure:

-   -   ASIC application-specific integrated circuit    -   BPSK binary phase shift keying    -   CA carrier aggregation    -   CSI channel state information    -   CDMA code division multiple access    -   CSS common search space    -   CPLD complex programmable logic devices    -   CC component carrier    -   DL downlink    -   DCI downlink control information    -   DC dual connectivity    -   EPC evolved packet core    -   E-UTRAN evolved-universal terrestrial radio access network    -   FPGA field programmable gate arrays    -   FDD frequency division multiplexing    -   HDL hardware description languages    -   HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request    -   IE information element    -   LAA licensed assisted access    -   LTE long term evolution    -   MCG master cell group    -   MeNB master evolved node B    -   MIB master information block    -   MAC media access control    -   MME mobility management entity    -   NAS non-access stratum    -   OFDM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing    -   PDCP packet data convergence protocol    -   PDU packet data unit    -   PHY physical    -   PDCCH physical downlink control channel    -   PHICH physical HARQ indicator channel    -   PUCCH physical uplink control channel    -   PUSCH physical uplink shared channel    -   PCell primary cell    -   PCC primary component carrier    -   PSCell primary secondary cell    -   pTAG primary timing advance group    -   QAM quadrature amplitude modulation    -   QPSK quadrature phase shift keying    -   RBG Resource Block Groups    -   RLC radio link control    -   RRC radio resource control    -   RA random access    -   RB resource blocks    -   SCC secondary component carrier    -   SCell secondary cell    -   Scell secondary cells    -   SCG secondary cell group    -   SeNB secondary evolved node B    -   sTAGs secondary timing advance group    -   SDU service data unit    -   S-GW serving gateway    -   SRB signaling radio bearer    -   SC-OFDM single carrier-OFDM    -   SFN system frame number    -   SIB system information block    -   TAI tracking area identifier    -   TAT time alignment timer    -   TDD time division duplexing    -   TDMA time division multiple access    -   TA timing advance    -   TAG timing advance group    -   TB transport block    -   UL uplink    -   UE user equipment    -   VHDL VHSIC hardware description language

Example embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented using variousphysical layer modulation and transmission mechanisms. Exampletransmission mechanisms may include, but are not limited to: CDMA, OFDM,TDMA, Wavelet technologies, and/or the like. Hybrid transmissionmechanisms such as TDMA/CDMA, and OFDM/CDMA may also be employed.Various modulation schemes may be applied for signal transmission in thephysical layer. Examples of modulation schemes include, but are notlimited to: phase, amplitude, code, a combination of these, and/or thelike. An example radio transmission method may implement QAM using BPSK,QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, and/or the like. Physical radiotransmission may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changingthe modulation and coding scheme depending on transmission requirementsand radio conditions.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting example sets of OFDM subcarriers as per anaspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated inthis example, arrow(s) in the diagram may depict a subcarrier in amulticarrier OFDM system. The OFDM system may use technology such asOFDM technology, DFTS-OFDM, SC-OFDM technology, or the like. Forexample, arrow 101 shows a subcarrier transmitting information symbols.FIG. 1 is for illustration purposes, and a typical multicarrier OFDMsystem may include more subcarriers in a carrier. For example, thenumber of subcarriers in a carrier may be in the range of 10 to 10,000subcarriers. FIG. 1 shows two guard bands 106 and 107 in a transmissionband. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , guard band 106 is between subcarriers103 and subcarriers 104. The example set of subcarriers A 102 includessubcarriers 103 and subcarriers 104. FIG. 1 also illustrates an exampleset of subcarriers B 105. As illustrated, there is no guard band betweenany two subcarriers in the example set of subcarriers B 105. Carriers ina multicarrier OFDM communication system may be contiguous carriers,non-contiguous carriers, or a combination of both contiguous andnon-contiguous carriers.

FIG. 2 is a diagram depicting an example transmission time and receptiontime for two carriers as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. A multicarrier OFDM communication system may include one ormore carriers, for example, ranging from 1 to 10 carriers. Carrier A 204and carrier B 205 may have the same or different timing structures.Although FIG. 2 shows two synchronized carriers, carrier A 204 andcarrier B 205 may or may not be synchronized with each other. Differentradio frame structures may be supported for FDD and TDD duplexmechanisms. FIG. 2 shows an example FDD frame timing. Downlink anduplink transmissions may be organized into radio frames 201. In thisexample, the radio frame duration is 10 msec. Other frame durations, forexample, in the range of 1 to 100 msec may also be supported. In thisexample, each 10 ms radio frame 201 may be divided into ten equallysized subframes 202. Other subframe durations such as 0.5 msec, 1 msec,2 msec, and 5 msec may also be supported. Subframe(s) may consist of twoor more slots (for example, slots 206 and 207). For the example of FDD,10 subframes may be available for downlink transmission and 10 subframesmay be available for uplink transmissions in each 10 ms interval. Uplinkand downlink transmissions may be separated in the frequency domain.Slot(s) may include a plurality of OFDM symbols 203. The number of OFDMsymbols 203 in a slot 206 may depend on the cyclic prefix length andsubcarrier spacing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting OFDM radio resources as per an aspect ofan embodiment of the present disclosure. The resource grid structure intime 304 and frequency 305 is illustrated in FIG. 3 . The quantity ofdownlink subcarriers or RBs (in this example 6 to 100 RBs) may depend,at least in part, on the downlink transmission bandwidth 306 configuredin the cell. The smallest radio resource unit may be called a resourceelement (e.g. 301). Resource elements may be grouped into resourceblocks (e.g. 302). Resource blocks may be grouped into larger radioresources called Resource Block Groups (RBG) (e.g. 303). The transmittedsignal in slot 206 may be described by one or several resource grids ofa plurality of subcarriers and a plurality of OFDM symbols. Resourceblocks may be used to describe the mapping of certain physical channelsto resource elements. Other pre-defined groupings of physical resourceelements may be implemented in the system depending on the radiotechnology. For example, 24 subcarriers may be grouped as a radio blockfor a duration of 5 msec. In an illustrative example, a resource blockmay correspond to one slot in the time domain and 180 kHz in thefrequency domain (for 15 KHz subcarrier bandwidth and 12 subcarriers).

FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C and FIG. 5D are example diagrams for uplinkand downlink signal transmission as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. FIG. 5A shows an example uplink physicalchannel. The baseband signal representing the physical uplink sharedchannel may perform the following processes. These functions areillustrated as examples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms maybe implemented in various embodiments. The functions may comprisescrambling, modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valuedsymbols, mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one orseveral transmission layers, transform precoding to generatecomplex-valued symbols, precoding of the complex-valued symbols, mappingof precoded complex-valued symbols to resource elements, generation ofcomplex-valued time-domain DFTS-OFDM/SC-FDMA signal for each antennaport, and/or the like.

Example modulation and up-conversion to the carrier frequency of thecomplex-valued DFTS-OFDM/SC-FDMA baseband signal for each antenna portand/or the complex-valued PRACH baseband signal is shown in FIG. 5B.Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

An example structure for Downlink Transmissions is shown in FIG. 5C. Thebaseband signal representing a downlink physical channel may perform thefollowing processes. These functions are illustrated as examples and itis anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in variousembodiments. The functions include scrambling of coded bits in each ofthe codewords to be transmitted on a physical channel; modulation ofscrambled bits to generate complex-valued modulation symbols; mapping ofthe complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmissionlayers; precoding of the complex-valued modulation symbols on each layerfor transmission on the antenna ports; mapping of complex-valuedmodulation symbols for each antenna port to resource elements;generation of complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal for each antennaport, and/or the like.

Example modulation and up-conversion to the carrier frequency of thecomplex-valued OFDM baseband signal for each antenna port is shown inFIG. 5D. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of a base station 401 and a wirelessdevice 406, as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.A communication network 400 may include at least one base station 401and at least one wireless device 406. The base station 401 may includeat least one communication interface 402, at least one processor 403,and at least one set of program code instructions 405 stored innon-transitory memory 404 and executable by the at least one processor403. The wireless device 406 may include at least one communicationinterface 407, at least one processor 408, and at least one set ofprogram code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 andexecutable by the at least one processor 408. Communication interface402 in base station 401 may be configured to engage in communicationwith communication interface 407 in wireless device 406 via acommunication path that includes at least one wireless link 411.Wireless link 411 may be a bi-directional link. Communication interface407 in wireless device 406 may also be configured to engage in acommunication with communication interface 402 in base station 401. Basestation 401 and wireless device 406 may be configured to send andreceive data over wireless link 411 using multiple frequency carriers.According to aspects of an embodiments, transceiver(s) may be employed.A transceiver is a device that includes both a transmitter and receiver.Transceivers may be employed in devices such as wireless devices, basestations, relay nodes, and/or the like. Example embodiments for radiotechnology implemented in communication interface 402, 407 and wirelesslink 411 are illustrated are FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 , FIG. 3 , FIG. 5 , andassociated text.

An interface may be a hardware interface, a firmware interface, asoftware interface, and/or a combination thereof. The hardware interfacemay include connectors, wires, electronic devices such as drivers,amplifiers, and/or the like. A software interface may include codestored in a memory device to implement protocol(s), protocol layers,communication drivers, device drivers, combinations thereof, and/or thelike. A firmware interface may include a combination of embeddedhardware and code stored in and/or in communication with a memory deviceto implement connections, electronic device operations, protocol(s),protocol layers, communication drivers, device drivers, hardwareoperations, combinations thereof, and/or the like.

The term configured may relate to the capacity of a device whether thedevice is in an operational or non-operational state. Configured mayalso refer to specific settings in a device that effect the operationalcharacteristics of the device whether the device is in an operational ornon-operational state. In other words, the hardware, software, firmware,registers, memory values, and/or the like may be “configured” within adevice, whether the device is in an operational or nonoperational state,to provide the device with specific characteristics. Terms such as “acontrol message to cause in a device” may mean that a control messagehas parameters that may be used to configure specific characteristics inthe device, whether the device is in an operational or non-operationalstate.

According to various aspects of an embodiment, an LTE network mayinclude a multitude of base stations, providing a user planePDCP/RLC/MAC/PHY and control plane (RRC) protocol terminations towardsthe wireless device. The base station(s) may be interconnected withother base station(s) (for example, interconnected employing an X2interface). Base stations may also be connected employing, for example,an S1 interface to an EPC. For example, base stations may beinterconnected to the MME employing the S1-MME interface and to the S-G)employing the S1-U interface. The S1 interface may support amany-to-many relation between MMEs/Serving Gateways and base stations. Abase station may include many sectors for example: 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6sectors. A base station may include many cells, for example, rangingfrom 1 to 50 cells or more. A cell may be categorized, for example, as aprimary cell or secondary cell. At RRC connectionestablishment/re-establishment/handover, one serving cell may providethe NAS (non-access stratum) mobility information (e.g. TAI), and at RRCconnection re-establishment/handover, one serving cell may provide thesecurity input. This cell may be referred to as the Primary Cell(PCell). In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell may bethe Downlink Primary Component Carrier (DL PCC), while in the uplink,the carrier corresponding to the PCell may be the Uplink PrimaryComponent Carrier (UL PCC). Depending on wireless device capabilities,Secondary Cells (SCells) may be configured to form together with thePCell a set of serving cells. In the downlink, the carrier correspondingto an SCell may be a Downlink Secondary Component Carrier (DL SCC),while in the uplink, it may be an Uplink Secondary Component Carrier (ULSCC). An SCell may or may not have an uplink carrier.

A cell, comprising a downlink carrier and optionally an uplink carrier,may be assigned a physical cell ID and a cell index. A carrier (downlinkor uplink) may belong to only one cell. The cell ID or Cell index mayalso identify the downlink carrier or uplink carrier of the cell(depending on the context it is used). In the specification, cell ID maybe equally referred to a carrier ID, and cell index may be referred tocarrier index. In implementation, the physical cell ID or cell index maybe assigned to a cell. A cell ID may be determined using asynchronization signal transmitted on a downlink carrier. A cell indexmay be determined using RRC messages. For example, when thespecification refers to a first physical cell ID for a first downlinkcarrier, the specification may mean the first physical cell ID is for acell comprising the first downlink carrier. The same concept may apply,for example, to carrier activation. When the specification indicatesthat a first carrier is activated, the specification may also mean thatthe cell comprising the first carrier is activated.

Embodiments may be configured to operate as needed. The disclosedmechanism may be performed when certain criteria are met, for example,in a wireless device, a base station, a radio environment, a network, acombination of the above, and/or the like. Example criteria may bebased, at least in part, on for example, traffic load, initial systemset up, packet sizes, traffic characteristics, a combination of theabove, and/or the like. When the one or more criteria are met, variousexample embodiments may be applied. Therefore, it may be possible toimplement example embodiments that selectively implement disclosedprotocols.

A base station may communicate with a mix of wireless devices. Wirelessdevices may support multiple technologies, and/or multiple releases ofthe same technology. Wireless devices may have some specificcapability(ies) depending on its wireless device category and/orcapability(ies). A base station may comprise multiple sectors. When thisdisclosure refers to a base station communicating with a plurality ofwireless devices, this disclosure may refer to a subset of the totalwireless devices in a coverage area. This disclosure may refer to, forexample, a plurality of wireless devices of a given LTE release with agiven capability and in a given sector of the base station. Theplurality of wireless devices in this disclosure may refer to a selectedplurality of wireless devices, and/or a subset of total wireless devicesin a coverage area which perform according to disclosed methods, and/orthe like. There may be a plurality of wireless devices in a coveragearea that may not comply with the disclosed methods, for example,because those wireless devices perform based on older releases of LTEtechnology.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are example diagrams for protocol structure with CAand DC as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure.E-UTRAN may support Dual Connectivity (DC) operation whereby a multipleRX/TX UE in RRC_CONNECTED may be configured to utilize radio resourcesprovided by two schedulers located in two eNBs connected via a non-idealbackhaul over the X2 interface. eNBs involved in DC for a certain UE mayassume two different roles: an eNB may either act as an MeNB or as anSeNB. In DC a UE may be connected to one MeNB and one SeNB. Mechanismsimplemented in DC may be extended to cover more than two eNBs. FIG. 7illustrates one example structure for the UE side MAC entities when aMaster Cell Group (MCG) and a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) are configured,and it may not restrict implementation. Media Broadcast MulticastService (MBMS) reception is not shown in this figure for simplicity.

In DC, the radio protocol architecture that a particular bearer uses maydepend on how the bearer is setup. Three alternatives may exist, an MCGbearer, an SCG bearer and a split bearer as shown in FIG. 6 . RRC may belocated in MeNB and SRBs may be configured as a MCG bearer type and mayuse the radio resources of the MeNB. DC may also be described as havingat least one bearer configured to use radio resources provided by theSeNB. DC may or may not be configured/implemented in example embodimentsof the disclosure.

In the case of DC, the UE may be configured with two MAC entities: oneMAC entity for MeNB, and one MAC entity for SeNB. In DC, the configuredset of serving cells for a UE may comprise two subsets: the Master CellGroup (MCG) containing the serving cells of the MeNB, and the SecondaryCell Group (SCG) containing the serving cells of the SeNB. For a SCG,one or more of the following may be applied. At least one cell in theSCG may have a configured UL CC and one of them, named PSCell (or PCellof SCG, or sometimes called PCell), may be configured with PUCCHresources. When the SCG is configured, there may be at least one SCGbearer or one Split bearer. Upon detection of a physical layer problemor a random-access problem on a PSCell, or the maximum number of RLCretransmissions has been reached associated with the SCG, or upondetection of an access problem on a PSCell during a SCG addition or aSCG change: a RRC connection re-establishment procedure may not betriggered, UL transmissions towards cells of the SCG may be stopped, anda MeNB may be informed by the UE of a SCG failure type. For splitbearer, the DL data transfer over the MeNB may be maintained. The RLC AMbearer may be configured for the split bearer. Like a PCell, a PSCellmay not be de-activated. A PSCell may be changed with a SCG change (forexample, with a security key change and a RACH procedure), and/orneither a direct bearer type change between a Split bearer and a SCGbearer nor simultaneous configuration of a SCG and a Split bearer may besupported.

With respect to the interaction between a MeNB and a SeNB, one or moreof the following principles may be applied. The MeNB may maintain theRRM measurement configuration of the UE and may, (for example, based onreceived measurement reports or traffic conditions or bearer types),decide to ask a SeNB to provide additional resources (serving cells) fora UE. Upon receiving a request from the MeNB, a SeNB may create acontainer that may result in the configuration of additional servingcells for the UE (or decide that it has no resource available to do so).For UE capability coordination, the MeNB may provide (part of) the ASconfiguration and the UE capabilities to the SeNB. The MeNB and the SeNBmay exchange information about a UE configuration by employing RRCcontainers (inter-node messages) carried in X2 messages. The SeNB mayinitiate a reconfiguration of its existing serving cells (for example, aPUCCH towards the SeNB). The SeNB may decide which cell is the PSCellwithin the SCG. The MeNB may not change the content of the RRCconfiguration provided by the SeNB. In the case of a SCG addition and aSCG SCell addition, the MeNB may provide the latest measurement resultsfor the SCG cell(s). Both a MeNB and a SeNB may know the SFN andsubframe offset of each other by OAM, (for example, for the purpose ofDRX alignment and identification of a measurement gap). In an example,when adding a new SCG SCell, dedicated RRC signaling may be used forsending required system information of the cell as for CA, except forthe SFN acquired from a MIB of the PSCell of a SCG.

In an example, serving cells may be grouped in a TA group (TAG). Servingcells in one TAG may use the same timing reference. For a given TAG,user equipment (UE) may use at least one downlink carrier as a timingreference. For a given TAG, a UE may synchronize uplink subframe andframe transmission timing of uplink carriers belonging to the same TAG.In an example, serving cells having an uplink to which the same TAapplies may correspond to serving cells hosted by the same receiver. AUE supporting multiple TAs may support two or more TA groups. One TAgroup may contain the PCell and may be called a primary TAG (pTAG). In amultiple TAG configuration, at least one TA group may not contain thePCell and may be called a secondary TAG (sTAG). In an example, carrierswithin the same TA group may use the same TA value and/or the sametiming reference. When DC is configured, cells belonging to a cell group(MCG or SCG) may be grouped into multiple TAGs including a pTAG and oneor more sTAGs.

FIG. 8 shows example TAG configurations as per an aspect of anembodiment of the present disclosure. In Example 1, pTAG comprises aPCell, and an sTAG comprises SCell1. In Example 2, a pTAG comprises aPCell and SCell1, and an sTAG comprises SCell2 and SCell3. In Example 3,pTAG comprises PCell and SCell1, and an sTAG1 includes SCell2 andSCell3, and sTAG2 comprises SCell4. Up to four TAGs may be supported ina cell group (MCG or SCG) and other example TAG configurations may alsobe provided. In various examples in this disclosure, example mechanismsare described for a pTAG and an sTAG. Some of the example mechanisms maybe applied to configurations with multiple sTAGs.

In an example, an eNB may initiate an RA procedure via a PDCCH order foran activated SCell. This PDCCH order may be sent on a scheduling cell ofthis SCell. When cross carrier scheduling is configured for a cell, thescheduling cell may be different than the cell that is employed forpreamble transmission, and the PDCCH order may include an SCell index.At least a non-contention based RA procedure may be supported forSCell(s) assigned to sTAG(s).

FIG. 9 is an example message flow in a random-access process in asecondary TAG as per an aspect of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. An eNB transmits an activation command 600 to activate anSCell. A preamble 602 (Msg1) may be sent by a UE in response to a PDCCHorder 601 on an SCell belonging to an sTAG. In an example embodiment,preamble transmission for SCells may be controlled by the network usingPDCCH format 1A. Msg2 message 603 (RAR: random access response) inresponse to the preamble transmission on the SCell may be addressed toRA-RNTI in a PCell common search space (CSS). Uplink packets 604 may betransmitted on the SCell in which the preamble was transmitted.

According to an embodiment, initial timing alignment may be achievedthrough a random-access procedure. This may involve a UE transmitting arandom-access preamble and an eNB responding with an initial TA commandNTA (amount of timing advance) within a random-access response window.The start of the random-access preamble may be aligned with the start ofa corresponding uplink subframe at the UE assuming NTA=0. The eNB mayestimate the uplink timing from the random-access preamble transmittedby the UE. The TA command may be derived by the eNB based on theestimation of the difference between the desired UL timing and theactual UL timing. The UE may determine the initial uplink transmissiontiming relative to the corresponding downlink of the sTAG on which thepreamble is transmitted.

The mapping of a serving cell to a TAG may be configured by a servingeNB with RRC signaling. The mechanism for TAG configuration andreconfiguration may be based on RRC signaling. According to variousaspects of an embodiment, when an eNB performs an SCell additionconfiguration, the related TAG configuration may be configured for theSCell. In an example embodiment, an eNB may modify the TAG configurationof an SCell by removing (releasing) the SCell and adding (configuring) anew SCell (with the same physical cell ID and frequency) with an updatedTAG ID. The new SCell with the updated TAG ID may initially be inactivesubsequent to being assigned the updated TAG ID. The eNB may activatethe updated new SCell and start scheduling packets on the activatedSCell. In an example implementation, it may not be possible to changethe TAG associated with an SCell, but rather, the SCell may need to beremoved and a new SCell may need to be added with another TAG. Forexample, if there is a need to move an SCell from an sTAG to a pTAG, atleast one RRC message, (for example, at least one RRC reconfigurationmessage), may be send to the UE to reconfigure TAG configurations byreleasing the SCell and then configuring the SCell as a part of thepTAG. When an SCell is added/configured without a TAG index, the SCellmay be explicitly assigned to the pTAG. The PCell may not change its TAgroup and may be a member of the pTAG.

The purpose of an RRC connection reconfiguration procedure may be tomodify an RRC connection, (for example, to establish, modify and/orrelease RBs, to perform handover, to setup, modify, and/or releasemeasurements, to add, modify, and/or release SCells). If the receivedRRC Connection Reconfiguration message includes the sCellToReleaseList,the UE may perform an SCell release. If the received RRC ConnectionReconfiguration message includes the sCellToAddModList, the UE mayperform SCell additions or modification.

In LTE Release-10 and Release-11 CA, a PUCCH may only be transmitted onthe PCell (PSCell) to an eNB. In LTE-Release 12 and earlier, a UE maytransmit PUCCH information on one cell (PCell or PSCell) to a given eNB.

As the number of CA capable UEs and also the number of aggregatedcarriers increase, the number of PUCCHs and also the PUCCH payload sizemay increase. Accommodating the PUCCH transmissions on the PCell maylead to a high PUCCH load on the PCell. A PUCCH on an SCell may beintroduced to offload the PUCCH resource from the PCell. More than onePUCCH may be configured for example, a PUCCH on a PCell and anotherPUCCH on an SCell. In the example embodiments, one, two or more cellsmay be configured with PUCCH resources for transmitting CSI/ACK/NACK toa base station. Cells may be grouped into multiple PUCCH groups, and oneor more cell within a group may be configured with a PUCCH. In anexample configuration, one SCell may belong to one PUCCH group. SCellswith a configured PUCCH transmitted to a base station may be called aPUCCH SCell, and a cell group with a common PUCCH resource transmittedto the same base station may be called a PUCCH group.

In an example embodiment, a MAC entity may have a configurable timertimeAlignmentTimer per TAG. The timeAlignmentTimer may be used tocontrol how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging tothe associated TAG to be uplink time aligned. The MAC entity may, when aTiming Advance Command MAC control element is received, apply the TimingAdvance Command for the indicated TAG; start or restart thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with the indicated TAG. The MAC entitymay, when a Timing Advance Command is received in a Random-AccessResponse message for a serving cell belonging to a TAG and/or if theRandom-Access Preamble was not selected by the MAC entity, apply theTiming Advance Command for this TAG and start or restart thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG. Otherwise, if thetimeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG is not running, the TimingAdvance Command for this TAG may be applied and the timeAlignmentTimerassociated with this TAG started. When the contention resolution isconsidered not successful, a timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAGmay be stopped. Otherwise, the MAC entity may ignore the received TimingAdvance Command.

In example embodiments, a timer is running once it is started, until itis stopped or until it expires; otherwise it may not be running A timercan be started if it is not running or restarted if it is running. Forexample, a timer may be started or restarted from its initial value.

Example embodiments of the disclosure may enable operation ofmulti-carrier communications. Other example embodiments may comprise anon-transitory tangible computer readable media comprising instructionsexecutable by one or more processors to cause operation of multi-carriercommunications. Yet other example embodiments may comprise an article ofmanufacture that comprises a non-transitory tangible computer readablemachine-accessible medium having instructions encoded thereon forenabling programmable hardware to cause a device (e.g. wirelesscommunicator, UE, base station, etc.) to enable operation ofmulti-carrier communications. The device may include processors, memory,interfaces, and/or the like. Other example embodiments may comprisecommunication networks comprising devices such as base stations,wireless devices (or user equipment: UE), servers, switches, antennas,and/or the like.

In an example, the MAC entity may be configured with one or more SCells.In an example, the network may activate and/or deactivate the configuredSCells. The SpCell may always be activated. The network may activate anddeactivates the SCell(s) by sending the Activation/Deactivation MACcontrol element. The MAC entity may maintain a sCellDeactivationTimertimer for a configured SCell. Upon the expiry of sCellDeactivationTimertimer, the MAC entity may deactivate the associated SCell. In anexample, the same initial timer value may apply to each instance of thesCellDeactivationTimer and it may be configured by RRC. The configuredSCells may initially be deactivated upon addition and after a handover.The configured SCG SCells may initially be deactivated after a SCGchange.

In an example, if the MAC entity receives an Activation/Deactivation MACcontrol element in a TTI activating a SCell, the MAC entity may, in aTTI according to the timing defined below, activate the SCell and applynormal SCell operation including SRS transmissions on the SCell,CQI/PMI/RI/PTI/CRI reporting for the SCell, PDCCH monitoring on theSCell, PDCCH monitoring for the SCell and PUCCH transmissions on theSCell, if configured. The MAC entity may start or restart thesCellDeactivationTimer associated with the SCell and trigger powerheadroom report (PHR). In an example, if the MAC entity receives anActivation/Deactivation MAC control element in a TTI deactivating aSCell or if the sCellDeactivationTimer associated with an activatedSCell expires in the TTI, the MAC entity may, in a TTI according to thetiming defined below, deactivate the SCell, stop thesCellDeactivationTimer associated with the SCell and flush all HARQbuffers associated with the SCell.

In an example, when a UE receives an activation command for a secondarycell in subframe n, the corresponding actions above may be applied nolater than the minimum requirements and no earlier than subframe n+8,except for the actions related to CSI reporting on a serving cell whichmay be active in subframe n+8 and the actions related to thesCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell which may beapplied in subframe n+8. The actions related to CSI reporting on aserving cell which is not active in subframe n+8 may be applied in theearliest subframe after n+8 in which the serving cell is active.

In an example, when a UE receives a deactivation command for a secondarycell or the sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cellexpires in subframe n, the corresponding actions above may apply nolater than the minimum requirement except for the actions related to CSIreporting on a serving cell which is active which may be applied insubframe n+8.

In an example, if the PDCCH on the activated SCell indicates an uplinkgrant or downlink assignment or if the PDCCH on the Serving Cellscheduling an activated SCell indicates an uplink grant or a downlinkassignment for the activated SCell, the MAC entity may restart thesCellDeactivationTimer associated with the SCell.

In an example, if a SCell is deactivated, the UE may not transmit SRS onthe SCell, may not report CQI/PMI/RI/PTI/CRI for the SCell, may nottransmit on UL-SCH on the SCell, may not transmit on RACH on the SCell,may not monitor the PDCCH on the SCell, may not monitor the PDCCH forthe SCell and may not transmit PUCCH on the SCell.

In an example, the HARQ feedback for the MAC PDU containingActivation/Deactivation MAC control element may not be impacted by PCellinterruption due to SCell activation/deactivation. In an example, whenSCell is deactivated, the ongoing Random-Access procedure on the SCell,if any, may be aborted.

In an example, the Activation/Deactivation MAC control element of oneoctet may be identified by a MAC PDU subheader with LCID 11000. FIG. 10shows example Activation/Deactivation MAC control elements. TheActivation/Deactivation MAC control element may have a fixed size andmay consist of a single octet containing seven C-fields and one R-field.Example Activation/Deactivation MAC control element with one octet isshown in FIG. 10 . The Activation/Deactivation MAC control element mayhave a fixed size and may consist of four octets containing 31 C-fieldsand one R-field. Example Activation/Deactivation MAC control element offour octets is shown in FIG. 10 . In an example, for the case with noserving cell with a serving cell index (ServCellIndex) larger than 7,Activation/Deactivation MAC control element of one octet may be applied,otherwise Activation/Deactivation MAC control element of four octets maybe applied. The fields in an Activation/Deactivation MAC control elementmay be interpreted as follows. Ci: if there is an SCell configured withSCellIndex i, this field may indicate the activation/deactivation statusof the SCell with SCellIndex i, else the MAC entity may ignore the Cifield. The Ci field may be set to “1” to indicate that the SCell withSCellIndex i is activated. The Ci field is set to “0” to indicate thatthe SCell with SCellIndex i is deactivated. R: Reserved bit, set to “0”.

A base station may provide a periodic resource allocation. In a periodicresource allocation, an RRC message and/or a DCI may activate or releasea periodic resource allocation. The UE may be allocated in downlinkand/or uplink periodic radio resources without the need for transmissionof additional grants by the base station. The periodic resourceallocation may remain activated until it is released. The periodicresource allocation for example, may be called, semi-persistentscheduling or grant-free scheduling, or periodic multi-subframescheduling, and/or the like. In this specification, the example termsemi-persistent scheduling is mostly used, but other terms may also beequally used to refer to periodic resource allocation, e.g. grant-freescheduling. An example periodic resource allocation activation andrelease is shown in FIG. 12 .

In the downlink, a base station may dynamically allocate resources (PRBsand MCS) to UEs at a TTI via the C-RNTI on PDCCH(s). A UE may monitorthe PDCCH(s) in order to find possible allocation when its downlinkreception is enabled (e.g. activity governed by DRX when configured).When CA is configured, the same C-RNTI applies to serving cells. Basestation may also allocate semi-persistent downlink resources for thefirst HARQ transmissions to UEs. In an example, an RRC message mayindicate the periodicity of the semi-persistent downlink grant. In anexample, a PDCCH DCI may indicate whether the downlink grant is asemi-persistent one e.g. whether it can be implicitly reused in thefollowing TTIs according to the periodicity defined by RRC.

In an example, when required, retransmissions may be explicitly signaledvia the PDCCH(s). In the sub-frames where the UE has semi-persistentdownlink resource, if the UE cannot find its C-RNTI on the PDCCH(s), adownlink transmission according to the semi-persistent allocation thatthe UE has been assigned in the TTI is assumed. Otherwise, in thesub-frames where the UE has semi-persistent downlink resource, if the UEfinds its C-RNTI on the PDCCH(s), the PDCCH allocation may override thesemi-persistent allocation for that TTI and the UE may not decode thesemi-persistent resources.

When CA is configured, semi-persistent downlink resources may beconfigured for the PCell and/or SCell(s). In an example, PDCCH dynamicallocations for the PCell and/or SCell(s) may override thesemi-persistent allocation.

In the uplink, a base station may dynamically allocate resources (PRBsand MCS) to UEs at a TTI via the C-RNTI on PDCCH(s). A UE may monitorthe PDCCH(s) in order to find possible allocation for uplinktransmission when its downlink reception is enabled (activity governedby DRX when configured). When CA is configured, the same C-RNTI appliesto serving cells. In addition, a base station may allocate asemi-persistent uplink resource for the first HARQ transmissions andpotentially retransmissions to UEs. In an example, an RRC may define theperiodicity of the semi-persistent uplink grant. PDCCH may indicatewhether the uplink grant is a semi-persistent one e.g. whether it can beimplicitly reused in the following TTIs according to the periodicitydefined by RRC.

In an example, in the sub-frames where the UE has semi-persistent uplinkresource, if the UE cannot find its C-RNTI on the PDCCH(s), an uplinktransmission according to the semi-persistent allocation that the UE hasbeen assigned in the TTI may be made. The network may perform decodingof the pre-defined PRBs according to the pre-defined MCS. Otherwise, inthe sub-frames where the UE has semi-persistent uplink resource, if theUE finds its C-RNTI on the PDCCH(s), the PDCCH allocation may overridethe persistent allocation for that TTI and the UE's transmission followsthe PDCCH allocation, not the semi-persistent allocation.Retransmissions may be either implicitly allocated in which case the UEuses the semi-persistent uplink allocation, or explicitly allocated viaPDCCH(s) in which case the UE does not follow the semi-persistentallocation.

Vehicular communication services, represented by V2X services, maycomprise of the following different types: V2V, V2I, V2N and/or V2P. V2Xservices may be provided by PC5 interface (sidelink) and/or Uu interface(UE to base station interface). Support of V2X services via PC5interface may be provided by V2X sidelink communication, which is a modeof communication whereby UEs may communicate with each other directlyover the PC5 interface. This communication mode may be supported whenthe UE is served by E-UTRAN and when the UE is outside of E-UTRAcoverage. The UEs authorized to be used for V2X services may perform V2Xsidelink communication.

The user plane protocol stack and functions for sidelink communicationmay be used for V2X sidelink communication. In order to assist the eNBto provide sidelink resources, the UE in RRC_CONNECTED may reportgeographical location information to the eNB. The eNB may configure theUE to report the complete UE geographical location information based onperiodic reporting via the existing measurement report signaling.

In an example, for V2X communication, k SPS (e.g. k=8 or 16, etc.)configurations with different parameters may be configured by eNB andSPS configurations may be active at the same time. Theactivation/deactivation of an SPS configuration may signaled via a PDCCHDCI and/or an RRC message by eNB. The logical channel prioritization forUu may be used.

For V2X communication, a UE may provide UE assistance information to aneNB. Reporting of UE assistance information may be configured by eNBtransmitting one or more RRC messages. The UE assistance information mayinclude parameters related to the SPS configuration. Triggering of UEassistance information transmission may be left to UE implementation.For instance, the UE may be allowed to report the UE assistanceinformation when change in estimated periodicity and/or timing offset ofpacket arrival occurs. For V2X communication via Uu, SR mask as perlegacy mechanism may be used.

In an example, for unicast transmission of V2X messages, the V2X messagemay be delivered via Non-GBR bearers as well as GBR bearers. In order tomeet the QoS requirement for V2X message delivery for V2X services, aNon-GBR QCI value and a GBR QCI value for V2X messages may be used. Forbroadcasting V2X messages, SC-PTM or MBSFN transmission may be used. Inorder to reduce SC-PTM/MBSFN latency, shorter (SC-)MCCH repetitionperiod for SC-PTM/MBSFN, modification period for SC-PTM/MBSFN and MCHscheduling period for MBSFN may be supported. Reception of downlinkbroadcast of V2X messages in different carriers/PLMNs may be supportedby having multiple receiver chains in the UE.

In an example embodiment, various DCI formats may be used for SPSscheduling. For example, the DCI format 0 may be used for uplink SPS. Inan example, the fields for DCI format 0 may comprise one or more of thefollowing fields: Carrier indicator e.g. 0 or 3 bits. Flag forformat0/format1A differentiation e.g. 1 bit, where value 0 may indicateformat 0 and value 1 may indicate format 1A. Frequency hopping flag,e.g. 1 bit. This field may be used as the MSB of the correspondingresource allocation field for resource allocation type 1. Resource blockassignment and hopping resource allocation, e.g. ┌log₂(N_(RB)^(UL)(N_(RB) ^(UL)+1)/2)┐ bits where N_(RB) ^(UL) may be the uplinkbandwidth configuration in number of resource blocks. Modulation andcoding scheme and redundancy version e.g. 5 bits. New data indicatore.g. 1 bit. TPC command for scheduled PUSCH e.g. 2 bits. Cyclic shiftfor DM RS and OCC index e.g. 3 bits. UL index e.g. 2 bits (this fieldmay be present for TDD operation with uplink-downlink configuration 0).Downlink Assignment Index (DAI) e.g. 2 bits (this field may be presentfor cases with TDD primary cell and either TDD operation withuplink-downlink configurations 1-6 or FDD operation). CSI request e.g.1, 2 or 3 bits. The 2-bit field may apply to UEs configured with no morethan five DL cells and to UEs that are configured with more than one DLcell and when the corresponding DCI format is mapped onto the UEspecific search space given by the C-RNTI, UEs that are configured byhigher layers with more than one CSI process and when the correspondingDCI format is mapped onto the UE specific search space given by theC-RNTI, UEs that are configured with two CSI measurement sets by higherlayers with the parameter csi-MeasSubframeSet, and when thecorresponding DCI format is mapped onto the UE specific search spacegiven by the C-RNTI; the 3-bit field may apply to the UEs that areconfigured with more than five DL cells and when the corresponding DCIformat is mapped onto the UE specific search space given by the C-RNTI;otherwise the 1-bit field may apply. SRS request e.g. 0 or 1 bit. Thisfield may be present in DCI formats scheduling PUSCH which are mappedonto the UE specific search space given by the C-RNTI. Resourceallocation type e.g. 1 bit. This field may be present if N_(RB)^(UL)≤N_(RB) ^(DL) where N_(RB) ^(UL) may be the uplink bandwidthconfiguration in number of resource blocks and N_(RB) ^(DL) may be thedownlink bandwidth configuration in number of resource blocks. Inexample, one or more fields may be added to a DCI for SPS to enhance SPSscheduling process. In example, one or more of the fields may bereplaced with new fields, or new values, or may be interpreteddifferently for SPS to enhance SPS scheduling process.

A base station may transmit one or more RRC messages to a wirelessdevice to configure SPS. The one or more RRC messages may comprise SPSconfiguration parameters. Example SPS configuration parameters arepresented below. In example, one or more parameters may be added to anRRC message for SPS to enhance SPS scheduling process. In example, oneor more some of the parameters for an SPS in an RRC message may bereplaced with new parameters, or new values, or may be interpreteddifferently for SPS to enhance SPS scheduling process. In an example, IESPS-Config may be used by RRC to specify the semi-persistent schedulingconfiguration. In an example, the IE SPS-Config may be SEQUENCE{semiPersistSchedC-RNTI: C-RNTI; sps-ConfigDL: SPS-ConfigDL;sps-ConfigUL: SPS-ConfigUL}. SPS-ConfigDL IE may comprisesemiPersistSchedIntervalDL, numberOfConfSPS-Processes,n1PUCCH-AN-PersistentList, twoAntennaPortActivated,n1PUCCH-AN-PersistentListP1, and/or other parameters. In an example,SPS-ConfigUL IE may comprise semiPersistSchedIntervalUL,implicitReleaseAfter, p0-NominalPUSCH-Persistent,p0-UE-PUSCH-Persistent, twoIntervalsConfig, p0-PersistentSubframeSet2,p0-NominalPUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2, p0-UE-PUSCH-and/orPersistentSubframeSet2, and/or other parameters.

In an example, one or more RRC configuration parameters may comprise oneor more of the following parameters to configure SPS for a wirelessdevice. In an example, SPS configuration may include MCS employed forpacket transmission of an MCS grant. In an example, implicitReleaseAfterIE may be the number of empty transmissions before implicit release,e.g. value e2 may corresponds to 2 transmissions, e3 may correspond to 3transmissions and so on. In an example, n1PUCCH-AN-PersistentList IE,n1PUCCH-AN-PersistentListP1 IE may be the List of parameter: n_(PUCCH)^((1,p)) for antenna port P0 and for antenna port P1 respectively. Fieldn1-PUCCH-AN-PersistentListP1 IE may be applicable if thetwoAntennaPortActivatedPUCCH-Format1a 1b in PUCCH-ConfigDedicated-v1020is set to true. Otherwise the field may not be configured.

In an example, numberOfConfSPS-Processes IE may be the number ofconfigured HARQ processes for Semi-Persistent Scheduling. In an example,p0-NominalPUSCH-Persistent IE may be the parameter: P_(O_NOMINAL_PUSCH)(0) used in PUSCH power control with unit in dBm and step 1. This fieldmay be applicable for persistent scheduling. If choice setup is used andp0-Persistent is absent, the value of p0-NominalPUSCH forp0-NominalPUSCH-Persistent may be applied. If uplink power controlsubframe sets are configured by tpc-SubframeSet, this field may applyfor uplink power control subframe set 1.

In an example, p0-NominalPUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2 IE may be theparameter: P_(O_NOMINAL_PUSCH) (0) used in PUSCH power control with unitin dBm and step 1. This field may be applicable for persistentscheduling. If p0-PersistentSubframeSet2-r12 is not configured, thevalue of p0-NominalPUSCH-SubframeSet2-r12 may be applied forp0-NominalPUSCH-PersistentSubfRameSet2. E-UTRAN may configure this fieldif uplink power control subframe sets are configured by tpc-SubframeSet,in which case this field may apply for uplink power control subframe set2. In an example, p0-UE-PUSCH-Persistent IE may be the parameter:P_(O_UE_PUSCH) (0) used in PUSCH power control with unit in dB. Thisfield may be applicable for persistent scheduling. If choice setup isused and p0-Persistent is absent, the value of p0-UE-PUSCH may beapplied for p0-UE-PUSCH-Persistent. If uplink power control subframesets are configured by tpc-SubframeSet, this field may be applied foruplink power control subframe set 1. In an example,p0-UE-PUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2 IE may be the parameter:P_(O_UE_PUSCH) (0) used in PUSCH power control with unit in dB. Thisfield may be applicable for persistent scheduling. Ifp0-PersistentSubframeSet2-r12 is not configured, the value ofp0-UE-PUSCH-SubframeSet2 may be applied forp0-UE-PUSCH-PersistentSubframeSet2. E-UTRAN may configure this field ifuplink power control subframe sets are configured by tpc-SubframeSet, inwhich case this field may apply for uplink power control subframe set 2.

In an example, semiPersistSchedC-RNTI IE may be Semi-PersistentScheduling C-RNTI. In an example, semiPersistSchedIntervalDL IE may beSemi-persistent scheduling interval in downlink. Its value may be innumber of sub-frames. Value sf10 may correspond to 10 sub-frames, sf20may correspond to 20 sub-frames and so on. For TDD, the UE may roundthis parameter down to the nearest integer (of 10 sub-frames), e.g. sf10may correspond to 10 sub-frames, sf32 may correspond to 30 sub-frames,sf128 may correspond to 120 sub-frames. In an example,semiPersistSchedIntervalUL IE may be semi-persistent scheduling intervalin uplink. Its value in number of sub-frames. Value sf10 may correspondto 10 sub-frames, sf20 may correspond to 20 sub-frames and so on. ForTDD, the UE may round this parameter down to the nearest integer (of 10sub-frames), e.g. sf10 may correspond to 10 sub-frames, sf32 maycorrespond to 30 sub-frames, sf128 may correspond to 120 sub-frames. Inan example, twoIntervalsConfig IE may be trigger oftwo-intervals-Semi-Persistent Scheduling in uplink. If this field ispresent, two-intervals-SPS is enabled for uplink. Otherwise,two-intervals-SPS is disabled.

In an example, multiple downlink or uplink SPS may be configured for acell. In an example, multiple SPS RNTIs may be configured when aplurality of SPSs is configured. A base station may transmit to a UE atleast one RRC message comprising SPS configuration parameters comprisinga first SPS RNTI and a second SPS RNTI. For example, a first SPS RNTImay be configured for a first SPS configuration (e.g. for VOIP), and asecond SPS RNTI may be configured for a second SPS configuration (e.g.for V2X communications). The UE may monitor PDCCH for at least DCIscorresponding to the first SPS RNTI and the second SPS RNTI.

When Semi-Persistent Scheduling is enabled by RRC, at least one or moreof the following information may be provided: Semi-Persistent SchedulingC-RNTI(s); Uplink Semi-Persistent Scheduling intervalsemiPersistSchedIntervalUL, number of empty transmissions beforeimplicit release implicitReleaseAfter, if Semi-Persistent Scheduling isenabled for the uplink; Whether twoIntervalsConfig is enabled ordisabled for uplink, for TDD; Downlink Semi-Persistent Schedulinginterval semiPersistSchedIntervalDL and number of configured HARQprocesses for Semi-Persistent Scheduling numberOfConfSPS-Processes, ifSemi-Persistent Scheduling is enabled for the downlink; and/or otherparameters.

When Semi-Persistent Scheduling for uplink or downlink is disabled byRRC, the corresponding configured grant or configured assignment may bediscarded.

In an example, after a Semi-Persistent downlink assignment isconfigured, the MAC entity may consider sequentially that the Nthassignment occurs in the subframe for which:(10*SFN+subframe)=[(10*SFNstart time+subframestarttime)+N*semiPersistSchedIntervalDL] modulo 10240. Where SFNstart timeand subframestart time may be the SFN and subframe, respectively, at thetime the configured downlink assignment were (re)initialized.

In an example, after a Semi-Persistent Scheduling uplink grant isconfigured, the MAC entity may: if twoIntervalsConfig is enabled byupper layer: set the Subframe_Offset according to Table below. else: setSubframe_Offset to 0. consider sequentially that the Nth grant occurs inthe subframe for which: (10*SFN+subframe)=[(10*SFNstarttime+subframestart time)+N*semiPersistSchedIntervalUL+Subframe_Offset*(Nmodulo 2)] modulo 10240. Where SFNstart time and subframestart time maybe the SFN and subframe, respectively, at the time the configured uplinkgrant were (re-)initialized. FIG. 11 . shows example subframe offsetvalues.

The MAC entity may clear the configured uplink grant immediately afterimplicitReleaseAfter number of consecutive MAC PDUs containing zero MACSDUs have been provided by the Multiplexing and Assembly entity, on theSemi-Persistent Scheduling resource. Retransmissions for Semi-PersistentScheduling may continue after clearing the configured uplink grant.

In an example embodiment, SPS configurations may be enhanced to supporttransmission of various V2X traffic and/or voice traffic by a UE. Thereis a need to support multiple SPS configurations for a UE. For example,a UE supporting V2X may need to support multiple uplink SPSconfigurations for transmitting various periodic (or semi-periodic)traffic and/or voice traffic in the uplink. Other examples may beprovided. For example, CAM messages in V2X may be semi-periodic. In somescenarios, CAM message generation may be dynamic in terms of size,periodicity and timing. Such changes may result in misalignment betweenSPS timing and CAM timing. There may be some regularity in size andperiodicity between different triggers Enhanced SPS mechanisms may bebeneficial to transmit V2X traffic, voice traffic, and/or the like. Inan example, various SPS periodicity, for example 100 ms and is may beconfigured.

In an example, multiple SPS configurations may be configured for UUand/or PC5 interface. An eNB may configure multiple SPS configurationsfor a given UE. In an example, SPS configuration specific MCS (e.g. MCSas a part of the RRC SPS-configuration) and/orSPS-configuration-specific periodicity may be configured. In an example,some of the SPS configuration parameters may be the same across multipleSPS and some other SPS configuration parameters may be different acrossSPS configurations. The eNB may dynamically trigger/release thedifferent SPS-configurations employing (E)PDCCH DCIs. In an example, themultiple SPS configurations may be indicated by eNB RRC signaling. Thedynamical triggering and releasing may be performed by eNB transmitting(E)PDCCH DCI to the UE employing SPS C-RNTI.

In an example embodiment, a UE may transmit UE SPS assistant informationto a base station indicating that the UE does not intend and/or intendto transmit data before a transmission associated to an SPSconfiguration. The eNB may acknowledge the UE indication. For V2Xcommunication, a UE may provide UE assistance information to an eNB.Reporting of UE assistance information may be configured by eNBtransmitting one or more RRC messages. The UE assistance information mayinclude parameters related to the SPS configuration. Triggering of UEassistance information transmission may be left to UE implementation.For instance, the UE may be allowed to report the UE assistanceinformation when change in estimated periodicity and/or timing offset ofpacket arrival occurs. For V2X communication via Uu, SR mask as perlegacy mechanism may be used.

Some example V2X messages are CAM, DENM and BSM. For Example, CAMmessage may have the following characteristics. Content: status (e.g.time, position, motion state, activated system), attribute (data aboutdimension, vehicle type and role in the road traffic). Periodicity:typical time difference between consecutive packets generation isbounded to the [0.1, 1] sec range. Length: Variable. For Example, DENMmessage may have the following characteristics. Content: Containinformation related to a variety of events. Periodicity: Event triggersthe DENM update. In between two consequent DENM updates, it is repeatedwith a pre-defined transmission interval. Length: Fixed until DENMupdate. For Example, BSM message may have the following characteristics.Content: Part I contains some of the basic vehicle state informationsuch as the message ID, vehicle ID, vehicle latitude/longitude, speedand acceleration status. Part II contains two option data frames:VehicleSafetyExtension and VehicleStatus. Periodicity: Periodic, theperiodicity may be different considering whether BSM part II is includedor not and the different application type. Length: Fixed, with differentmessage size considering whether part II exists or not.

In an example, SPS may be employed for the transmission of BSM, DENMsand CAMs. For example, the UE's speed/position/direction changes withina range. BSM may be periodic traffic with a period of 100 ms. Themessage size of BSM may be in the range of 132˜300 Bytes withoutcertificate and 241˜409 Bytes with certificate. DENMs, once triggered,may be transmitted periodically with a given message period which mayremain unchanged. The message size of the DENM may be 200˜1200 Bytes. Ifthe UE's speed/position/direction does not change or changes within asmall range, the CAM generation periodicity may be fixed.

The SPS may be supported for the UL and DL VoIP transmission. In thecurrent SPS specification, the base station may configure SPSperiodicity via dedicated RRC signaling. The periodicity of VoIP packetis generally fixed.

The UE may transmit traffic associated with multiple V2X services, whichmay require different periodicity and packet sizes. The SPS TB size andperiod may be adapted to different V2X services. Multiple parallel SPSprocesses may be activated at the UE. The SPS processes may differ inthe amount of resource blocks (RBs) allocated and/or SPS period and maycorrespond to different types of V2X packets. Once the AS layer of UEreceives the V2X packets from upper layer, the UE may trigger V2X packettransmissions on the corresponding SPS grant. Multiple UL SPSconfigurations may be configured for the UE.

The eNB may configure different SPS C-RNTIs for different SPS processesof the UE. SPS activation and release mechanism may be implemented.Employing at least one or more SPS RNTIs, the eNB may trigger which SPSprocess is activated or released. In an example implementation, in orderto support multiple SPS configurations different SPS C-RNTIs may beconfigured for different SPS traffic types. For example, a first SPSC-RNTI may be configured for SPS configuration to transmit voicetraffic, a second SPS C-RNTI may be configured for SPS configuration totransmit a V2X traffic. An eNB may transmit one or more RRC messagescomprising multiple SPS configuration parameters. The multiple SPSconfiguration parameters may comprise multiple SPS-RNTI parameters formultiple SPS traffic types (e.g. multiple UL SPS configurations).

The Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH) may be used toindicate HARQ feedback (e.g., HARQ ACK/NACK) in response to UL-SCHtransmissions. In an example, to minimize the overhead and not introduceadditional signaling in the uplink grants, the resource for PHICH onwhich a UE may expect HARQ feedback may be derived from the lowestphysical resource block (PRB) index in the first slot of a correspondingPUSCH transmission and/or the demodulation reference-signal (DMRS)cyclic shift indicated in the uplink grant and/or other parameters. Inan example, multiple UEs scheduled on the same set of resources (e.g.,using multi-user MIMO) may receive their HARQ feedback on differentPHICH resources, as the DMRS cyclic shifts indicated in their uplinkgrants may be different. In an example, for spatial multiplexing, wheretwo PHICH resources may be needed, the resource for a second PHICH maybe derived from the PRB index of the second resource block on which thePUSCH is transmitted.

In an example with carrier aggregation, the eNB may transmit the PHICHon the same cell that was used for transmission of the grant schedulingthe corresponding PUSCH. This procedure may be beneficial from a UEpower consumption perspective as the UE may only need to monitor PHICHon the cell that it monitors for uplink scheduling grants and as thePDCCH may override the PHICH to support adaptive retransmissions. Forthe case when no cross-carrier scheduling is used, that is, an uplinkcomponent carrier is scheduled on its corresponding downlink componentcarrier, different uplink component carriers may have different PHICHresources. With cross-carrier scheduling, transmissions on multipleuplink component carriers may need to be acknowledged on a singledownlink component carrier. In an example, PHICH collision may beavoided by the eNB scheduler by enabling different combinations of DMRScyclic shift and lowest PRB index in the first slot of the PUSCHtransmission for the different uplink component carriers that arecross-carrier scheduled and may need to be acknowledged on a singledownlink component carrier.

In an example embodiment, a UE may not be configured with multiple TAGs,or the UE may be configured with multiple TAGs and PUSCH transmissionsscheduled from serving cell c in subframe n may not be scheduled by aRandom-Access Response Grant corresponding to a random-access preambletransmission for a secondary cell. In an example, for PUSCHtransmissions scheduled from serving cell c in subframe n, the UE maydetermine the corresponding PHICH resource of serving cell c in subframen+k_(PHICH). In an example, k_(PHICH) may be always 4 for FDD. In anexample, k_(PHICH) may be 6 for FDD-TDD and serving cell c framestructure type 2 and the PUSCH transmission may be for another servingcell with frame structure type 1. In an example, k_(PHICH) may be 4 forFDD-TDD and serving cell c frame structure type 1 and the PUSCHtransmission may be for a serving cell with frame structure type 1. Inan example, k_(PHICH) may be given in FIG. 13 for FDD-TDD and servingcell c frame structure type 1 and the PUSCH transmission may be foranother serving cell with frame structure type 2.

In an example, for TDD, the UE may not be configured withEIMTA-MainConfigServCell-r12 for any serving cell. The UE may beconfigured with one serving cell, or the UE is configured with more thanone serving cell and the TDD UL/DL configuration of all the configuredserving cells may be the same. In an example, for PUSCH transmissionsscheduled from serving cell c in subframe n, the UE may determine thecorresponding PHICH resource of serving cell c in subframe n+k_(PHICH),where k_(PHICH) may be given in FIG. 13 .

In an example embodiment, for TDD, a UE may not be configured with morethan one serving cell. The TDD UL/DL configuration of at least twoconfigured serving cells may not be the same. In an example, the UE maybe configured with EIMTA-MainConfigServCell-r12 for at least one servingcell. In an example, for FDD-TDD and serving cell c frame structure type2, for PUSCH transmissions scheduled from serving cell c in subframe n,the UE may determine the corresponding PHICH resource of serving cell cin subframe n+k_(PHICH), where k_(PHICH) is given in FIG. 13 , where theTDD UL/DL Configuration may refer to the UL-reference UL/DLconfiguration of the serving cell corresponding to the PUSCHtransmission.

In an example, a UE may be configured with multiple TAGs. PUSCHtransmissions on subframe n for a secondary cell c scheduled by aRandom-Access Response grant may be corresponding to a random-accesspreamble transmission for the secondary cell c.

In an example, for TDD, the UE may not be configured with more than oneserving cell and the TDD UL/DL configuration of at least two configuredserving cells may not be the same. In an example, the UE may beconfigured with EIMTA-MainConfigServCell-r12 for at least one servingcell, or for FDD-TDD and serving cell c frame structure type 2, the TDDUL/DL Configuration may refer to the UL-reference UL/DL configuration ofsecondary cell c.

In an example, the UE may not be configured to monitor PDCCH/EPDCCH withcarrier indicator field corresponding to secondary cell c in anotherserving cell. The UE may determine the corresponding PHICH resource onthe secondary cell c in subframe n+k_(PHICH). In an example, k_(PHICH)may be always 4 for FDD. In an example, k_(PHICH) may be given in FIG.13 for TDD. In an example, k_(PHICH) may be 4 for FDD-TDD and secondarycell c frame structure type 1. In an example, k_(PHICH) may be given inFIG. 13 for FDD-TDD and secondary cell c frame structure type 2.

In an example, a UE may not be configured to monitor PDCCH/EPDCCH withcarrier indicator field corresponding to secondary cell c in anotherserving cell c1. The UE may be configured with multiple TAGs. The UE maydetermine the corresponding PHICH resource on the serving cell c1 insubframe n+k_(PHICH). In an example, k_(PHICH) may be 4 for FDD. In anexample, k_(PHICH) may be given in FIG. 13 for TDD. In an example,k_(PHICH) may be 4 for FDD-TDD and primary cell frame structure type 1and frame structure type 1 for secondary cell c and serving cell c1. Inan example, k_(PHICH) may be given in FIG. 13 for FDD-TDD and servingcell c frame structure type 2. In an example, k_(PHICH) may be 6 forFDD-TDD and serving cell c frame structure type 1 and serving cell c1frame structure type 2.

In an example, for subframe bundling operation, the corresponding PHICHresource may be associated with the last subframe in the bundle.

In an example, the MAC entity may be configured with one or more SCells.In an example, the network/eNB may activate and/or deactivate theconfigured SCells. The special cell (SpCell) may always be activated.The network may activate and/or deactivate the SCell(s) by sending anActivation/Deactivation MAC control element (MAC CE). The MAC entity maymaintain a sCellDeactivationTimer timer per configured SCell (e.g.,except the SCell configured with PUCCH, if any). In an example, upon theexpiry of sCellDeactivationTimer timer, the MAC entity may deactivatethe associated SCell. The same initial timer value may apply to eachinstance of the sCellDeactivationTimer and it may be configured by RRC.The configured SCells may initially be deactivated upon addition andafter a handover. The configured SCG SCells may initially be deactivatedafter a SCG change.

In an example, the MAC entity may receive an Activation/Deactivation MACcontrol element in a TTI activating a SCell. The MAC entity may, in aTTI according to a timing, activate the SCell and apply normal SCelloperation including SRS transmissions on the SCell, CQI/PMI/RI/PTI/CRIreporting for the SCell, PDCCH monitoring on the SCell, PDCCH monitoringfor the SCell and PUCCH transmissions on the SCell, if configured. TheMAC entity may start or restart the sCellDeactivationTimer associatedwith the SCell and trigger power headroom report (PHR). In an example,if the MAC entity receives an Activation/Deactivation MAC controlelement in a TTI deactivating a SCell or if the sCellDeactivationTimerassociated with an activated SCell expires in the TTI, the MAC entitymay, in a TTI according to a timing, deactivate the SCell, stop thesCellDeactivationTimer associated with the SCell and flush all HARQbuffers associated with the SCell.

In an example, when a UE receives an activation command for a secondarycell in subframe n, the corresponding actions may be applied no laterthan the minimum requirements and no earlier than subframe n+8, exceptfor the actions related to CSI reporting on a serving cell which may beactive in subframe n+8 and the actions related to thesCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cell which may beapplied in subframe n+8. In an example, the actions related to CSIreporting on a serving cell which is not active in subframe n+8 may beapplied in the earliest subframe after n+8 in which the serving cell isactive.

In an example, a UE may receive a deactivation command for a secondarycell or the sCellDeactivationTimer associated with the secondary cellmay expire in subframe n. In an example, the corresponding actions mayapply no later than the minimum requirement except for the actionsrelated to CSI reporting on a serving cell which is active which may beapplied in subframe n+8.

In an example, in response to a PDCCH on an activated SCell indicatingan uplink grant or downlink assignment, or a PDCCH on a Serving Cellscheduling an activated SCell indicating an uplink grant or a downlinkassignment for the activated SCell, the MAC entity may restart thesCellDeactivationTimer associated with the SCell.

In an example, in response to a SCell being deactivated, the UE may nottransmit SRS on the SCell and/or may not report CQI/PMI/RI/PTI/CRI forthe SCell and/or may not transmit on UL-SCH on the SCell and/or may nottransmit on RACH on the SCell and/or may not monitor the PDCCH on theSCell and/or may not monitor the PDCCH for the SCell and/or may nottransmit PUCCH on the SCell. In an example, the HARQ feedback for a MACPDU containing Activation/Deactivation MAC control element may not beimpacted by PCell interruption due to SCell activation/deactivation. Inan example, when SCell is deactivated, the ongoing Random-Accessprocedure on the SCell, if any, may be aborted.

In an example, the Activation/Deactivation MAC control element of oneoctet may be identified by a MAC PDU subheader with LCID 11000. TheActivation/Deactivation MAC CE may have a fixed size. In an example, theActivation/Deactivation MAC CE may consist of a single octet containingseven C-fields and one R-field. An example Activation/Deactivation MACcontrol element with one octet is shown in FIG. 10 .

In an example, the Activation/Deactivation MAC control element of fouroctets may be identified by a MAC PDU subheader with LCID 11000. In anexample, the Activation/Deactivation MAC may have a fixed size and mayconsist of four octets containing 31 C-fields and one R-field. Anexample Activation/Deactivation MAC CE of four octets may is shown inFIG. 10 . In an example, for the case with no serving cell with aserving cell index (ServCellIndex) larger than 7,Activation/Deactivation MAC CE of one octet may be applied, otherwiseActivation/Deactivation MAC control element of four octets may beapplied. In an example, if there is an SCell configured with SCellIndexi, the Ci field may indicate the activation/deactivation status of theSCell with SCellIndex i. Otherwise, the MAC entity may ignore the Cifield. In an example, the Ci field may be set to 1 to indicate that theSCell with SCellIndex i may be activated. The Ci field may be set to 0to indicate that the SCell with SCellIndex i may be deactivated. In anexample, the R field may be a reserved bit set to 0.

In legacy release 13 LTE, the eNB may only perform periodic resourceallocation (e.g., semi-persistent scheduling (SPS)) for a primary cell.In an example, the DMRS cyclic shift indicated in the semi-persistentscheduling (SPS) grant may be set to zero (e.g., ‘000’). In legacy LTE,SPS may be only supported on the primary cell and there may be no riskof collisions between PHICHs corresponding to PUSCHs on different cellsas SPS may be only supported on the primary cell. As the trafficscheduled by SPS increases, the need for supporting SPS on secondarycells increases. With semi-persistent scheduling of multiple servingcells (e.g., primary and/or secondary cells) from a single cell (e.g.,primary cell), there is the possibility that PHICH resources calculatedfor PUSCH transmissions on different cells and transmitted by eNB on thescheduling cell collide if the DMRS cyclic shift is indicated as ‘000’for the SPS grants as is currently indicated based on release 13procedures. While the eNB scheduler may avoid concurrent uplink grantson subframes which are concurrent with SPS configured PUSCHtransmissions if the corresponding PHICH resources collide, suchapproach may result is lower scheduling efficiency. There is a need toenhance the current SPS mechanism to support SPS on secondary cells,reduce PHICH collisions and improve radio link efficiency. Exampleembodiments demonstrate enhancements to semi-persistent scheduling grantand grant procedures to further reduce PHICH collision for multiple SPSPUSCHs in different serving cells.

In legacy release 13 LTE, SPS may be only supported on SpCell. In anexample, DMRS cyclic shift transmitted in the uplink grant (andcorresponding n_(DMRS)) may be set to zero in an SPS grant. PHICHresource may be determined from n_(DMRS) and the lowest PRB index in thefirst slot of the corresponding PUSCH transmission. In an example, whenSPS on SCell is supported, and when cross-carrier scheduling is employedfor SPS, the PHICH may be transmitted on the carrier that schedules SPS(e.g., on PCell). In an example, if DMRS cyclic shift of 0 and legacyPHICH mechanisms is used for semi-persistent scheduling of more than oneserving cell, the probability of PHICH collision may increase, forexample, when the same PRB index is used for PUSCH transmission on morethan one serving cells. There is a need for improving PHICH and SPSmechanisms when SPS on SCell is supported.

In an example, an eNB may semi-persistently schedule resources on asecondary cell in uplink and/or downlink. In an example, the eNB maysemi-persistently cross-carrier schedule resources on a serving cell.The carrier indicator field in uplink SPS grant may indicate the servingcell that is being semi-persistently scheduled.

In an example, a wireless device may be configured with a plurality ofSPS configurations. The SPS configurations may be for different types ofSPS and/or different services (e.g., voice, V2X, etc.). The CRC of afirst DCI for activation/release of a first SPS with a first servicetype (e.g., voice) may be scrambled with a first SPS C-RNTI. The CRC ofa second DCI for activation/release of a second SPS with a secondservice type (e.g., V2X) may be scrambled with a second SPS C-RNTI. Inan example, a field in the second DCI may provide an index to one of aplurality of SPS configurations, wherein the plurality of SPSconfigurations may be associated with different parameters (e.g.,different periodicities). The fields of the first DCI foractivation/release of the first SPS may be used differently from thefields of the second DCI for activation/release of the second SPS. In anexample, a field that is used to indicate the cyclic shift DMRS field inthe first DCI may be used to indicate the index to the one of theplurality of SPS configurations for second service type (e.g., V2X) inthe second DCI.

In legacy SPS procedures, a wireless device may validate a received DCIscrambled with a SPS C-RNTI as a valid SPS activation/release inresponse to some fields in the DCI having pre-configured values.Validation is an important step in the wireless device to detect whethera DCI is correctly received, and whether the DCI is for an SPSactivation or release. Legacy validation processes may be employed whenmultiple SPSs with different SPS-RNTI are configured. However, thelegacy validation procedures may lead to wrongly detecting a DCIintended for dynamic scheduling as a periodic resource allocation (e.g.,SPS) activation/release DCI. In addition, the legacy validationprocedures may lead to wrongly detecting a DCI intended for periodicresource allocation (e.g., SPS) activation/release as a dynamic (e.g.,non-SPS) scheduling DCI. There is a need to enhance theactivation/release DCI validation procedure for periodic resourceallocation (e.g., SPS) to improve the scheduling performance when aplurality of SPS configurations of the same or different types areconfigured for a wireless device. Some example embodiments are presentedbelow. Some of features in example embodiments may be combined in animplementation. The embodiments presented below are described forsemi-persistent scheduling activation/release DCI. The embodiments maybe applied for other periodic resource allocation mechanisms (e.g.,grant-free periodic resource allocation).

In an example embodiment, DCI format 0 may be used for uplinksemi-persistent scheduling on primary and/or secondary cells. In anexample, ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ field (e.g., 3-bits) inthe (E)PDCCH used for SPS activation/release on a serving cell may be apre-configured and/or fixed value (e.g., a pre-determined value). In anexample, the pre-configured fixed value may be known by both the UE andthe eNB. The pre-configured value may depend on the serving cell that isbeing semi-persistently scheduled. In an example, the pre-configuredvalue may be determined based on the cell index of the serving cell,e.g. according to a formula/mechanism known to both the eNB and the UE.In an example, the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ field may takethe value ‘000’ for primary cell, ‘001’ for secondary cell with smallestcell index, ‘010’ for secondary cell with second smallest cell index andso on. Other examples may be provided on how to calculate thepre-determined value by the UE and the eNB. The eNB may choose the samevalue of ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ field in the (E)PDCCH forSPS release on a serving cell that is used in the (E)PDCCH for SPSactivation.

In an example enhanced mechanism, the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCCindex’ field may be used to differentiate PHICH resources for differentSPS configurations on the same and/or different serving cells. An eNBmay transmit an SPS grant comprising ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCCindex’ field according to an example embodiment. The same field valuemay be used to determine PHICH resources for different instances of SPSPUSCH transmissions. A UE may determine PHICH resources at least basedon pre-defined PHICH timing, RBs, and DMRS value. The ‘Cyclic shift forDMRS and OCC index’ field may be set to a different value for differentSPS grants.

In an example embodiment, the PHICH resource may be identified by anindex pair, e.g., (n_(PHICH) ^(group),n_(PHICH) ^(seq)) where n_(PHICH)^(group) may be the PHICH group number and n_(PHICH) ^(seq) may be anorthogonal sequence index within the group and may be defined by:n _(PHICH) ^(group)=(I _(PRB_RA) +n _(DMRS))mod N _(PHICH) ^(group) +I_(PHICH) N _(PHICH) ^(group)n _(PHICH) ^(seq)=(└I _(PRB_RA) /N _(PHICH) ^(group) ┘+n _(DMRS))mod 2N_(SF) ^(PHICH)where, in an example, n_(DMRS) may be mapped from the cyclic shift forDMRS field (e.g., according to FIG. 14 ) in the most recent PDCCH/EPDCCHwith uplink DCI format for the transport block(s) associated with thecorresponding PUSCH transmission. In an example, n_(DMRS) may be set tozero if the initial PUSCH for the same transport block is scheduled bythe random-access response grant. In an example, N_(SF) ^(PHICH) may bea spreading factor size used for PHICH modulation. In an example:

$I_{PRB\_ RA} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} & \begin{matrix} \\\begin{matrix}{{for}{the}{first}{TB}{of}a} \\{{PUSCH}{with}{associated}} \\{{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}{or}{for}{the}} \\{{case}{of}{no}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{when}{the}{number}{of}{negatively}{acknowledged}} \\{{TBs}{is}{not}{equal}{to}{the}{number}{of}{TBs}{indicated}} \\{{in}{the}{most}{recent}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{associated}{with}{the}{corresponding}{PUSCH}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \\{I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} + 1} & \begin{matrix}{{for}a{second}{TB}{of}a{PUSCH}} \\{{with}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \right.$where I_(PRB_RA) ^(lowest_index) may be the lowest PRB index in thefirst slot of the corresponding PUSCH transmission. In an example,N_(PHICH) ^(group) may be the number of PHICH groups configured byhigher layers. In an example:

$I_{PHICH} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}1 & {\begin{matrix}{{for}{TDD}{{UL}/{DL}}{configuration}0{with}} \\{{{PUSCH}{transmission}{in}{subframe}n} = {4{or}9}}\end{matrix}} \\0 & {otherwise}\end{matrix} \right.$In an example, when the UE receives a NACK in PHICH, the UE mayretransmit a HARQ TB after a pre-determined number of subframes, inpre-determined resource blocks, without the need for an additionalgrant.In an example embodiment, an enhanced validation mechanism may beimplemented for an SPS grant. A UE may examine a received SPS grant andcheck whether certain conditions are met to verify whether a SPS grantvalidation is achieved. In an example, validation of (E)PDCCH for SPSactivation/release may be achieved if the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCCindex’ field corresponds to the pre-defined fixed value for a servingcell and other validation conditions are also met.

In an example, a UE may validate a Semi-Persistent Scheduling assignmentPDCCH if the CRC parity bits obtained for the PDCCH payload arescrambled with the Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI; and the new dataindicator field is set to ‘0’. In case of DCI formats 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and2D, the new data indicator field may refer to the one for the enabledtransport block.

In an example, a UE may validate a Semi-Persistent Scheduling assignmentEPDCCH if the CRC parity bits obtained for the EPDCCH payload arescrambled with the Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI; and the new dataindicator field is set to ‘0’. In case of DCI formats 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and2D, the new data indicator field may refer to the one for the enabledtransport block.

In an example embodiment, validation may be achieved if the fields forthe respective used DCI format are set according to FIG. 15 (foractivation) and FIG. 16 (for release). If validation is achieved, the UEmay consider the received DCI information accordingly as a validsemi-persistent activation or release. If validation is not achieved,the received DCI format may be considered by the UE as having beenreceived with a non-matching CRC. The UE may ignore the DCI with thenon-matching CRC.

In an example embodiment, the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’field in the (E)PDCCH used for SPS activation/release on a serving cellmay have the same value as the ‘Carrier indicator’ field (CIF). In anexample, the CIF value for a cell index may be configured using one ormore RRC messages. In an example, the CIF value may be the same as thecell index value. The eNB may choose the same value of ‘Cyclic shift forDMRS and OCC index’ field for SPS release on a serving cell that is usedfor SPS activation.

In an example enhanced mechanism, the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCCindex’ may be used to differentiate PHICH resources for different SPSconfigurations on the same and/or different serving cells. An eNB maytransmit an SPS grant comprising ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’field according to an example embodiment. The same field value may beused to determine PHICH resources for different instances of SPS PUSCHtransmission. A UE may determine PHICH resources at least based onpre-defined PHICH timing, RBs, and DMRS value. ‘Cyclic shift for DMRSand OCC index’ may be set to a different value for different SPS grants.

In an example embodiment, the PHICH resource may be identified by theindex pair (n^(group),n_(PHICH) ^(seq)) where n_(PHICH) ^(group) may bethe PHICH group number and n_(PHICH) ^(seq) may be the orthogonalsequence index within the group and may be defined by:n _(PHICH) ^(group)=(I _(PRB_RA) +n _(DMRS))mod N _(PHICH) ^(group) +I_(PHICH) N _(PHICH) ^(group)n _(PHICH) ^(seq)=(└I _(PRB_RA) /N _(PHICH) ^(group) ┘+n _(DMRS))mod 2N_(SF) ^(PHICH)where n_(DMRS) may be mapped from the cyclic shift for DMRS field (seeFIG. 14 ) in the most recent PDCCH/EPDCCH with uplink DCI format for thetransport block(s) associated with the corresponding PUSCH transmission.n_(DMRS) may be set to zero if the initial PUSCH for the same transportblock is scheduled by the grant in the random-access response. In anexample, N_(SF) ^(PHICH) may be the spreading factor size used for PHICHmodulation. In an example:

$I_{PRB\_ RA} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} & \begin{matrix} \\\begin{matrix}{{for}{the}{first}{TB}{of}a} \\{{PUSCH}{with}{associated}} \\{{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}{or}{for}{the}} \\{{case}{of}{no}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{when}{the}{number}{of}{negatively}{acknowledged}} \\{{TBs}{is}{not}{equal}{to}{the}{number}{of}{TBs}{indicated}} \\{{in}{the}{most}{recent}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{associated}{with}{the}{corresponding}{PUSCH}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \\{I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} + 1} & \begin{matrix}{{for}a{second}{TB}{of}a{PUSCH}} \\{{with}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \right.$where I_(PRB_RA) ^(lowest_index) may be the lowest PRB index in thefirst slot of the corresponding PUSCH transmission. In an example,N_(PHICH) ^(group) may be the number of PHICH groups configured byhigher layers. In an example,

$I_{PHICH} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}1 & {\begin{matrix}{{for}{TDD}{{UL}/{DL}}{configuration}0{with}} \\{{{PUSCH}{transmission}{in}{subframe}n} = {4{or}9}}\end{matrix}} \\0 & {otherwise}\end{matrix} \right.$

In an example embodiment, the UE may validate (E) PDCCH for SPSactivation/release if the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ fieldequals the ‘carrier indicator’ field and other validation conditions arealso met. In an example, a UE may validate a Semi-Persistent Schedulingassignment PDCCH if the CRC parity bits obtained for the PDCCH payloadare scrambled with the Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI; and the newdata indicator field is set to ‘0’. In an example, in case of DCIformats 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D, the new data indicator field may refer tothe one for the enabled transport block.

In an example embodiment, a UE may validate a Semi-Persistent Schedulingassignment EPDCCH if the CRC parity bits obtained for the EPDCCH payloadare scrambled with the Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI; and the newdata indicator field is set to ‘0’. In an example, in case of DCIformats 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D, the new data indicator field may refer tothe one for the enabled transport block. In an example, validation maybe achieved if the fields for the respective used DCI format are setaccording to FIG. 17 (for activation) and FIG. 18 (for release). Ifvalidation is achieved, the UE may consider the received DCI informationaccordingly as a valid semi-persistent activation or release. Ifvalidation is not achieved, the received DCI format may be considered bythe UE as having been received with a non-matching CRC. The UE mayignore the DCI with the non-matching CRC.

In an example, RRC configuration may determine the value of ‘Cyclicshift for DMRS and OCC index’ field in the (E)PDCCH used for SPSactivation/release on a serving cell. In an example, an eNB may transmitone or more RRC messages comprising configuration parameters of aplurality of cells. The configuration parameters may compriseconfiguration parameters for cross carrier scheduling configuration, SPSconfiguration, and other PHY/MAC parameters. In an example, a servingcell may be assigned a ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ parameterfor SPS transmissions, and the parameter may be employed for PHICHdetermination of SPS(s) PUSCH transmission on that serving cell. In anexample, an SPS on a cell may be assigned a ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS andOCC index’ parameter and different SPS configurations may have differentparameter values. The eNB may choose the same value of ‘Cyclic shift forDMRS and OCC index’ field for SPS release on a serving cell that is usedfor SPS activation.

In an enhanced mechanism, the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ maybe used to differentiate PHICH resources for different SPSconfigurations on the same and/or different serving cells. An eNB maytransmit an SPS grant comprising ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’field according to an example embodiment. The same field value may beused to determine PHICH resources for different instances of SPS PUSCHtransmission. A UE may determine PHICH resources at least based onpre-defined PHICH timing, RBs, and DMRS value. ‘Cyclic shift for DMRSand OCC index’ may be set to a different value for different SPS grants.

In an example embodiment, the PHICH resource may be identified by theindex pair (n_(PHICH) ^(group),n_(PHICH) ^(seq)) where n_(PHICH)^(group) may be the PHICH group number and n_(PHICH) ^(seq) may be theorthogonal sequence index within the group and may be defined by:n _(PHICH) ^(group)=(I _(PRB_RA) +n _(DMRS))mod N _(PHICH) ^(group) +I_(PHICH) N _(PHICH) ^(group)n _(PHICH) ^(seq)=(└I _(PRB_RA) /N _(PHICH) ^(group) ┘+n _(DMRS))mod 2N_(SF) ^(PHICH)where n_(DMRS) may be mapped from the cyclic shift for DMRS field(according to FIG. 14 ) in the most recent PDCCH/EPDCCH with uplink DCIformat for the transport block(s) associated with the correspondingPUSCH transmission. In an example, n_(DMRS) may be set to zero if theinitial PUSCH for the same transport block is scheduled by therandom-access response grant. In an example, N_(SF) ^(PHICH) may be thespreading factor size used for PHICH modulation. In an example:

$I_{PRB\_ RA} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} & \begin{matrix} \\\begin{matrix}{{for}{the}{first}{TB}{of}a} \\{{PUSCH}{with}{associated}} \\{{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}{or}{for}{the}} \\{{case}{of}{no}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{when}{the}{number}{of}{negatively}{acknowledged}} \\{{TBs}{is}{not}{equal}{to}{the}{number}{of}{TBs}{indicated}} \\{{in}{the}{most}{recent}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{associated}{with}{the}{corresponding}{PUSCH}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \\{I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} + 1} & \begin{matrix}{{for}a{second}{TB}{of}a{PUSCH}} \\{{with}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \right.$where I_(PRB_RA) ^(lowest_index) may be the lowest PRB index in thefirst slot of the corresponding PUSCH transmission. In an example,N_(PHICH) ^(group) may be the number of PHICH groups configured byhigher layers. In an example:

$I_{PHICH} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}1 & {\begin{matrix}{{for}{TDD}{{UL}/{DL}}{configuration}0{with}} \\{{{PUSCH}{transmission}{in}{subframe}n} = {4{or}9}}\end{matrix}} \\0 & {otherwise}\end{matrix} \right.$

The UE may validate E(PDCCH) for SPS activation/release on a servingcell if the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ field corresponds tothe RRC configured value for the serving cell and other validationconditions are also met. In an example, a UE may validate aSemi-Persistent Scheduling assignment PDCCH if the CRC parity bitsobtained for the PDCCH payload are scrambled with the Semi-PersistentScheduling C-RNTI; and the new data indicator field is set to ‘0’. Incase of DCI formats 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D, the new data indicator fieldmay refer to the one for the enabled transport block.

In an example, a UE may validate a Semi-Persistent Scheduling assignmentEPDCCH if the CRC parity bits obtained for the EPDCCH payload arescrambled with the Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI; and the new dataindicator field is set to ‘0’. In case of DCI formats 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and2D, the new data indicator field may refer to the one for the enabledtransport block. In an example, validation may be achieved if all thefields for the respective used DCI format are set according to FIG. 19and FIG. 20 . If validation is achieved, the UE may consider thereceived DCI information accordingly as a valid semi-persistentactivation or release. If validation is not achieved, the received DCIformat may be considered by the UE as having been received with anon-matching CRC.

In an example embodiment, the value of ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCCindex’ field in the E(PDCCH) used for SPS activation/release on aserving cell may be selected (e.g. randomly, arbitrarily, and/oraccording to an eNB mechanism) by the eNB scheduler discretion (in therange ‘000’-‘111’) for a serving cell that is being semi-persistentlyscheduled. The eNB may select the field value to reduce the probabilityof PHICH collision.

In an example, the eNB scheduler may choose the combination of the‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ field in a semi-persistentscheduling grant and the lowest PRB index of the corresponding PUSCHtransmission to be different for different serving cells when they arescheduled from the same cell. The eNB may choose the same value of‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ field for SPS release on a servingcell that is used for SPS activation.

In an example enhanced mechanism, the ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCCindex’ may be used to differentiate PHICH resources for different SPSconfigurations on the same and/or different serving cells. In anexample, an eNB may transmit an SPS grant comprising ‘Cyclic shift forDMRS and OCC index’ field according to an example embodiment. The samefield value may be used to determine PHICH resources for differentinstances of SPS PUSCH transmission. A UE may determine PHICH resourcesat least based on pre-defined PHICH timing, RBs, and DMRS value. ‘Cyclicshift for DMRS and OCC index’ may be set to a different value fordifferent SPS grants.

In an example embodiment, the PHICH resource may be identified by anindex pair (n_(PHICH) ^(group),n_(PHICH) ^(seq)) where n_(PHICH)^(group) may be the PHICH group number and n_(PHICH) ^(seq) may be theorthogonal sequence index within the group and may be defined by:n _(PHICH) ^(group)=(I _(PRB_RA) +n _(DMRS))mod N _(PHICH) ^(group) +I_(PHICH) N _(PHICH) ^(group)n _(PHICH) ^(seq)=(└I _(PRB_RA) /N _(PHICH) ^(group) ┘+n _(DMRS))mod 2N_(SF) ^(PHICH)where n_(DMRS) may be mapped from the cyclic shift for DMRS field(according to FIG. 14 ) in the most recent PDCCH/EPDCCH with uplink DCIformat for the transport block(s) associated with the correspondingPUSCH transmission. In an example, n_(DMRS) may be set to zero if theinitial PUSCH for the same transport block is scheduled by therandom-access response grant. In an example, N_(SF) ^(PHICH) may be thespreading factor size used for PHICH modulation. In an example,

$I_{PRB\_ RA} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} & \begin{matrix} \\\begin{matrix}{{for}{the}{first}{TB}{of}a} \\{{PUSCH}{with}{associated}} \\{{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}{or}{for}{the}} \\{{case}{of}{no}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{when}{the}{number}{of}{negatively}{acknowledged}} \\{{TBs}{is}{not}{equal}{to}{the}{number}{of}{TBs}{indicated}} \\{{in}{the}{most}{recent}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{associated}{with}{the}{corresponding}{PUSCH}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \\{I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} + 1} & \begin{matrix}{{for}a{second}{TB}{of}a{PUSCH}} \\{{with}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \right.$where I_(PRB_RA) ^(lowest_index) may be the lowest PRB index in thefirst slot of the corresponding PUSCH transmission. In an example,N_(PHICH) ^(group) may be the number of PHICH groups configured byhigher layers. In an example,

$I_{PHICH} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}1 & {\begin{matrix}{{for}{TDD}{{UL}/{DL}}{configuration}0{with}} \\{{{PUSCH}{transmission}{in}{subframe}n} = {4{or}9}}\end{matrix}} \\0 & {otherwise}\end{matrix} \right.$

In an example embodiment, SPS configurations may be enhanced to supporttransmission of various V2X traffic and/or voice traffic by a UE. Thereis a need to support multiple SPS configurations for a UE. For example,a UE supporting V2X may need to support multiple uplink SPSconfigurations for transmitting various periodic (or semi-periodic)traffic and/or voice traffic in the uplink. In legacy SPS procedures, awireless device may validate a received DCI scrambled with a SPS C-RNTIas a valid SPS activation/release in response to some fields in the DCIhaving pre-configured values. Validation is an important step in thewireless device to detect whether a DCI is correctly received, andwhether the DCI is for an SPS activation or release. Legacy validationprocesses may be employed when multiple SPSs with different SPS-RNTIsare configured. However, when multiples SPSs are configured, the legacyvalidation procedures may lead to wrongly detecting a DCI intended fordynamic scheduling as a periodic resource allocation (e.g., SPS)activation/release DCI. In addition, when multiples SPSs are configured,the legacy validation procedures may lead to wrongly detecting a DCIintended for periodic resource allocation (e.g., SPS) activation/releaseas a dynamic (e.g., non-SPS) scheduling DCI. There is a need to enhancethe activation/release DCI validation procedure for periodic resourceallocation (e.g., SPS) to improve the scheduling performance when aplurality of SPS configurations of the same or different types areconfigured for a wireless device. In an example enhanced embodiment,validation employing the cyclic shift DMRS field value in DCI isimproved when a first SPS RNTI (e.g. legacy SPS RNTI) and at least onesecond SPS RNTIs are configured to support multiple SPS configurations.This also enables additional flexibility in using DCI fields.

In an example embodiment, a wireless device may be configured with afirst SPS C-RNTI for a first service type (e.g., voice) and at least asecond SPS C-RNTI for a second service type (e.g., V2X). The wirelessdevice may be configured with other SPS C-RNTIs and/or other RNTIsassociated with periodic resource allocation as well. The wirelessdevice may receive a DCI in an (E)PDCCH, the DCI being associated withone of the first SPS C-RNTI or the second SPS C-RNTI. An example processis shown in FIG. 21 . In an example, the CRC bits of the payload of the(E)PDCCH may be scrambled with one of the first SPS C-RNTI or the secondSPS C-RNTI. In an example, in response to the DCI being associated withthe first SPS C-RNTI, the wireless device may consider a value of aCyclic shift, indicated in the DCI, to validate (E)PDCCH for SPSactivation/release. The first SPS RNTI may be a legacy SPS RNTI used forexample for voice traffic. In an example embodiment, in response to theDCI being associated with at least a second SPS C-RNTI, the UE may notconsider the value of the Cyclic shift to validate (E)PDCCH for SPSactivation/release. In an example, the UE may not take intoconsideration the value of Cyclic shift to validate an uplink grant withDCI format 0 for activation/release of semi-persistent scheduling inresponse to the DCI being associated with at least the second SPS C-RNTI(e.g., at least one SPS C-RNTI associated with the V2X service type).

In an example embodiment, in response to the (E)PDCCH being associatedan SPS RNTI, validation may be achieved if the fields for the respectiveused DCI format are set according to FIG. 22 (for activation) and FIG.23 (for release). SPS RNTI may be one of a first SPS C-RNTI associatedwith a first service type (e.g., legacy SPS RNTI associated with e.g.VOIP) or at least one second SPS C-RNTI associated with a second servicetype (e.g. V2X). For example, in FIG. 22 and FIG. 23 , Cyclic Shift DMRS value may be employed for DCI validation for legacy SPS C-RNTI (e.g.first SPS RNTI for VOIP traffic), otherwise the UE may not employ thevalue of Cyclic Shift DM RS for DCI validation.

In an example, if validation is achieved, the UE may consider thereceived DCI information accordingly as a valid semi-persistentactivation or release. In an example, if validation is not achieved, thereceived DCI format may be considered by the UE as having been receivedwith a non-matching CRC.

In an example, a UE may receive a PDCCH associated with a SPS C-RNTIassociated with a service type (e.g., V2X, VOIP, etc). The UE mayvalidate a Semi-Persistent Scheduling assignment PDCCH if the CRC paritybits obtained for the PDCCH payload are scrambled with the SPS C-RNTI;and the new data indicator field is set to ‘0’. In an example, in caseof one or more DCI formats (e.g., 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D), the new dataindicator field may refer to the one for the enabled transport block. Inan example, a UE may validate a Semi-Persistent Scheduling assignmentEPDCCH if the CRC parity bits obtained for the EPDCCH payload arescrambled with the SPS C-RNTI; and the new data indicator field is setto ‘0’. In case of one or more DCI formats (e.g., 2, 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D),the new data indicator field may refer to the one for the enabledtransport block.

In an example enhanced mechanism, the CIF field of a serving cell may beused to differentiate PHICH resources for different SPS configurationson the same and/or different serving cells. The same CIF field value maybe used to determine PHICH resources for different instances of SPSPUSCH transmission. A UE may determine PHICH resources at least based onpre-defined PHICH timing, RBs, and CIF.

In an example, one of the parameters for the PHICH resource calculationmay be the value of ‘carrier indicator’ field in the (E)PDCCH used forSPS activation/release on a serving cell. In an example, the PHICHresource used for transmission of HARQ acknowledgement corresponding toSPS PUSCH may depend on the value of ‘carrier indicator’ field in the(E)PDCCH and/or the DMRS cyclic shift (mapped to n_(DMRS)) and/or thelowest PRB index in the first slot of the corresponding PUSCHtransmission.

In an example, the PHICH resource calculation may use the value of‘carrier indicator’ field. In an example, the PHICH resource may beidentified by the index pair (n_(PHICH) ^(group),n_(PHICH) ^(seq)) wheren_(PHICH) ^(group) may be the PHICH group number and n_(PHICH) ^(seq)may be the orthogonal sequence index within the group and may be definedby:n _(PHICH) ^(group)=(I _(PRB) _(RA) +n _(CIF))mod N _(PHICH) ^(group) +I_(PHICH) N _(PHICH) ^(group)n _(PHICH) ^(group)=(└I _(PRB_RA) /N _(PHICH) ^(group) ┘+n _(CIF))mod 2N_(SF) ^(PHICH)where n_(CIF) may be mapped from the Carrier Indicator field (accordingto FIG. 24 ) in the most recent PDCCH/EPDCCH with uplink DCI format forthe transport block(s) associated with the corresponding PUSCHtransmission. In an example, n_(CIF) may be set to zero if the initialPUSCH for the same transport block is scheduled by the random-accessresponse grant. In an example, N_(SF) ^(PHICH) may be the spreadingfactor size used for PHICH modulation. In an example,

$I_{PRB\_ RA} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} & \begin{matrix} \\\begin{matrix}{{for}{the}{first}{TB}{of}a} \\{{PUSCH}{with}{associated}} \\{{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}{or}{for}{the}} \\{{case}{of}{no}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{when}{the}{number}{of}{negatively}{acknowledged}} \\{{TBs}{is}{not}{equal}{to}{the}{number}{of}{TBs}{indicated}} \\{{in}{the}{most}{recent}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}} \\{{associated}{with}{the}{corresponding}{PUSCH}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \\{I_{PRB\_ RA}^{lowest\_ index} + 1} & \begin{matrix}{{for}a{second}{TB}{of}a{PUSCH}} \\{{with}{associated}{{PDCCH}/{EPDCCH}}}\end{matrix}\end{matrix} \right.$where I_(PRB_RA) ^(lowest_index) may be the lowest PRB index in thefirst slot of the corresponding PUSCH transmission. In an example,N_(PHICH) ^(group) may be the number of PHICH groups configured byhigher layers. In an example,

$I_{PHICH} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}1 & {\begin{matrix}{{for}{TDD}{{UL}/{DL}}{configuration}0{with}} \\{{{PUSCH}{transmission}{in}{subframe}n} = {4{or}9}}\end{matrix}} \\0 & {otherwise}\end{matrix} \right.$In an example, the PHICH determination mechanism may employ a differentequation and may depend at least on the value of ‘carrier indicator’field in the E(PDCCH) and/or the DMRS cyclic shift (mapped to n_(DMRS))and/or the lowest PRB index in the first slot of the corresponding PUSCHtransmission.

In legacy release 13 LTE, the eNB transmits the PHICH on the same cellthat schedules (e.g., semi-persistently or dynamically) the uplinktransmission. This procedure may be beneficial from a UE powerconsumption perspective as the UE may only need to monitor the cell thatit monitors for uplink scheduling grants and as the PDCCH may overridethe PHICH to support adaptive retransmissions. In an example, withcross-carrier scheduling, transmissions on multiple uplink componentcarriers may need to be acknowledged on a single downlink componentcarrier.

In an example embodiment, the PHICH may be transmitted in the first OFDMsymbol of the PHICH subframe corresponding to a PUSCH transmission. Thismay allow the UE to attempt to decode the PHICH even if it faileddecoding of the physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH). Thismay be advantageous as the error requirements on the PHICH may bestricter than for PCFICH. To improve the coverage, it may be possible tosemi-statically configure a PHICH duration of up to three OFDM symbols.

In an example, the PHICH for a semi-persistently scheduled serving cellmay be transmitted on the carrier that PUSCH transmission takes placeand not on the scheduling carrier (e.g., the carrier on which grant istransmitted). In an example, the PHICH for transmission of hybrid ARQACK/NACK corresponding to uplink transmissions that are dynamicallyscheduled may be transmitted on the scheduling carrier and the PHICH fora semi-persistently scheduled serving cell may be transmitted on thecarrier that PUSCH transmission takes place and not on the schedulingcarrier. In an example, PHICH corresponding to semi-persistentlyscheduled PUSCHs on an SCell may use the PHICH resources available forother UEs for which the SCell may be a PCell. In an example, the UE mayconsider the PHICH configuration information transmitted as part of thesystem information (e.g., number of OFDM symbols and/or the amount ofresources in the control region reserved for PHICH) to decode the PHICHon a serving cell.

In an example embodiment, several PHICHs may be code multiplexed on to aset of resource elements. The HARQ acknowledgement (one bit per TB) maybe repeated three times, followed by BPSK modulation and may be spreadwith a length-four orthogonal sequence. A PHICH group may comprise a setof PHICHs transmitted on the same set of resource elements. A PHICHgroup may consist of eight PHICHs in the case of normal cyclic prefix.In an example, a PHICH group may not comprise of PHICHs corresponding toboth dynamically scheduled PUSCHs and semi-persistently scheduledPUSCHs. In an example, a PHICH group may comprise of PHICHscorresponding to dynamically scheduled PUSCHs or a PHICH group maycomprise of PHICHs corresponding to semi-persistently scheduled PUSCHs.

The PHICH resources, e.g., the index pair (n_(PHICH) ^(group),n_(PHICH)^(seq)), corresponding to two or more scheduled PUSCHs (e.g.,dynamically and/or semi-persistently scheduled) may coincide if, forexample, the parameters used for PHICH resource calculation (e.g., thevalue of ‘Cyclic shift for DMRS and OCC index’ field in the SPS grantand/or the lowest PRB index in the first slot of the corresponding PUSCHtransmission) are the same. In an example, the eNB may bundle the HARQACKs/NACKs corresponding to PHICHs with the same calculated resource andconsider a NACK for the PHICH resource if at least one of HARQ feedbackvalues is a NACK and consider an ACK for the PHICH resource if the HARQACK feedback values are ACK. In an example, an AND operation across allof ACK/NACK messages corresponding to the PHICHs with the same resourceis used. In an example, eNB may indicate to the UE (e.g., through RRCconfiguration and/or dynamic signaling) whether ACK/NACK bundling forPHICH is enabled and/or used or not. In an example, the eNB may indicateto the UE as part of the PHICH configuration system information ifACK/NACK bundling for PHICH is enabled and/or used or not. In anexample, eNB may indicate to the UE (e.g., as part of PHICHconfiguration system information, RRC configuration or dynamicsignaling) whether ACK/NACK bundling for PHICH is enabled and/or usedfor PHICHs corresponding to SPS PUSCHs, dynamically scheduled PUSCHs orboth of SPS and dynamically scheduled PUSCHs.

In an example, the eNB scheduler may avoid concurrent uplink grants onsubframes which are concurrent with SPS configured PUSCH transmissionsif the corresponding PHICH resources collide. Cross-carrier schedulingwith the Carrier Indicator Field (CIF) may allow the PDCCH of a servingcell to schedule resources on another serving cell. Cross-carrierscheduling may not apply to PCell, e.g., PCell may always be scheduledvia its PDCCH. In an example, when the PDCCH of an SCell is configured,cross-carrier scheduling may not apply to this SCell e.g., it may alwaysbe scheduled via its PDCCH. In an example, when the PDCCH of an SCell isnot configured, cross-carrier scheduling may apply and the SCell mayalways be scheduled via the PDCCH of one other serving cell.

In an example, the IE CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig may be used tospecify the configuration when the cross carrier scheduling is used in acell. An example CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig IE may be as follows:

CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig-r10 ::= SEQUENCE {  schedulingCellInfo-r10CHOICE { own-r10 SEQUENCE { -- No cross carrier schedulingcif-Presence-r10 BOOLEAN }, other-r10 SEQUENCE { -- Cross carrierscheduling schedulingCellId-r10 ServCellIndex-r10, pdsch-Start-r10INTEGER (1..4) }  } } CrossCarrierSchedulingConfig-r13 ::= SEQUENCE { schedulingCellInfo-r13 CHOICE { own-r13 SEQUENCE { -- No cross carrierscheduling cif-Presence-r13 BOOLEAN }, other-r13 SEQUENCE { -- Crosscarrier scheduling schedulingCellId-r13 ServCellIndex-r13,pdsch-Start-r13 INTEGER (1..4), cif-InSchedulingCell-r13 INTEGER (1..7)}  } }

In an example, cif-Presence may be used to indicate whether carrierindicator field is present (value TRUE) or not (value FALSE) inPDCCH/EPDCCH DCI formats. In an example, cif-InSchedulingCell field mayindicate the CIF value used in the scheduling cell to indicate thiscell. In case of carrier indicator field is present, the CIF value is 0.In an example, pdsch-Start field may indicate the starting OFDM symbolof PDSCH for the concerned SCell. Values 1, 2, 3 are applicable whendl-Bandwidth for the concerned SCell is greater than 10 resource blocks,values 2, 3, 4 are applicable when dl-Bandwidth for the concerned SCellis less than or equal to 10 resource blocks. In an example,schedulingCellId field may indicate which cell signals the downlinkallocations and uplink grants, if applicable, for the concerned SCell.In case the UE is configured with DC, the scheduling cell is part of thesame cell group (i.e. MCG or SCG) as the scheduled cell.

In legacy SCell activation/deactivation procedures, the wireless device(re)starts an SCell deactivation timer in response to receiving a DCIindicating an uplink grant or downlink assignment. The reception of theDCI indicates that the SCell needs to remain active and hence thewireless device re(starts) the SCell deactivation timer. Withsemi-persistent scheduling and/or other periodic resource allocationmechanisms (e.g., grant-free resource allocation), the wireless devicemay receive a single DCI indicating/activating a plurality of periodicresources. In legacy 3GPP release 14, the periodic resource allocation(e.g., SPS) is configured for a SPCell (e.g., primary cell or primarysecondary cell) only and the SPCell always remains activated. Withintroduction of SPS and/or other periodic resource allocation mechanisms(e.g., grant-free periodic resource allocation), the SCell deactivationtimer may expire while the periodic resource allocation grants are stillactivated/allocated. The legacy procedures hence leads to deactivationof the SCell and the wireless device may not utilize the periodicresources allocated by the base station. The base station may need toperiodically transmit dynamic grants to the wireless device so that thewireless device remains active while the periodic resource allocationare activated and not released. This reduces the efficiency of resourceallocation and degrades the performance of the wireless device. Withintroduction of SPS and/or other periodic resource allocation mechanismson SCell, there is a need to enhance the SCell activation/deactivationprocedure.

In an example embodiment, a UE may be configured with semi-persistentscheduling and/or other periodic resource allocation (e.g., grant-free)on a secondary cell. In an example embodiment, a UE may be configuredwith multiple SPS configurations and/or periodic resource allocationconfigurations. One or more SPS grants and/or periodic resourceallocations may be initialized. The UE may receive dynamic grants and/orSPS grants and/or periodic resource allocations from the eNB. The eNBmay activate semi-persistent scheduling and/or periodic resourceallocation on a secondary cell by sending a PDCCH activating SPSdownlink assignment or SPS uplink grant or periodic resource allocationon the secondary cell or on a serving cell scheduling the secondarycell. In an example embodiment, in response to SPS and/or periodicresource allocation being configured for a UE on a SCell (e.g., with RRCconfiguration), the wireless device/MAC entity may disable thesCellDeactivationTimer timer associated with the SCell. In an example,wireless device/MAC entity may stop/pause the sCellDeactivationTimertimer and/or ignore the value of sCellDeactivationTimer timer foractivation/deactivation of SCell in response to disabling thesCellDeactivationTimer timer. In an example, the eNB may release the SPSconfiguration or periodic resource allocation configuration bytransmitting an RRC reconfiguration message to the UE and release theSPS and/or periodic resource allocation configuration. In an exampleembodiment, in response to releasing the SPS/periodic resourceallocation configuration for an SCell, the UE may enable SCelldeactivation timer. In an example, RRC may release SPS/periodic resourceallocation configuration for a deactivated SCell. In an example, RRC mayrelease an SCell with SPS/periodic resource allocation configuration andreconfigure the SCell without SPS/periodic resource allocationconfiguration. In an example, Scell deactivation timer for an SCellwithout SPS/periodic resource allocation configuration may be enabled.

In an example, the SCell may be in a deactivated state when it isinitially configured (e.g., RRC configured) for a UE. The eNB mayactivate or deactivate the SCell by transmitting a MACactivation/deactivation command to the UE. The eNB may transmit a MACactivation command to the UE and activate an SCell with SPSconfiguration and/or periodic resource allocation configuration. In theexample embodiment, the SCell may remain activated until it isdeactivated by eNB, e.g., by transmitting a MAC SCell deactivationcommand for the SCell.

In the above example, the timer may be enabled or disabled based on RRCconfiguration of the SCell. In an example, the timer may be enabled forthe SCell, and the timer may be managed (e.g. stopped/disabled/started)by the MAC layer based on periodic resource allocations (e.g., SPSgrants).

In an example, a UE may be configured with periodic resource allocation(e.g., semi-persistent scheduling) on a secondary cell. An exampleprocess is shown in FIG. 25 . The eNB may activate semi-persistentscheduling and/or periodic resource allocation on a secondary cell bysending a PDCCH activating SPS downlink assignment or SPS uplink grantor periodic resource allocation on the secondary cell or on a servingcell scheduling the secondary cell. In an example, a periodic resourceallocation (e.g., grant-free resource allocation) may be activated withRRC configuration.

In an example embodiment, in response to SPS and/or periodic resourceallocation being activated on an SCell (e.g., in response to receiving aPDCCH activating SPS downlink assignment or SPS uplink grant or periodicresource allocation), the MAC entity may stop/disable thesCellDeactivationTimer timer associated with the SCell.

An example process is shown in FIG. 26 . In an example, the MAC entitymay maintain the activation status of the SCell. In an example, inresponse to receiving an (E)PDCCH activating a semi-persistentscheduling and/or periodic resource allocation, the wireless device maymaintain the status of secondary cell as active regardless of the valueof the SCellDeactivationTimer as long as the SPS and/or the periodicresource allocation is activated. In an example, the MAC entity maystart/restart the sCellDeactivationTimer when the SPS or the periodicresource allocation is implicitly or explicitly released on the SCell.In an example, in response to the UE validating a semi-persistentscheduling and/or periodic resource allocation activation PDCCH/EPDCCHon a secondary cell or on a serving cell scheduling SPS/periodicresource allocation on the secondary cell, the MAC entity maystop/disable the sCellDeactivationTimer timer associated with the SCell.In an example, in response to the UE validating a SPS and/or periodicresource allocation release PDCCH/EPDCCH on a secondary cell or on aserving cell on behalf of the secondary cell, the MAC entity may startthe sCellDeactivationTimer timer associated with the SCell. In anexample, in response to SPS being released on a SCell (e.g. by the MAClayer/PDCCH), the UE may start the sCellDeactivationTimer and use theRRC configuration parameters (e.g., the initial value ofsCellDeactivationTimer) that are used before disabling thesCellDeactivationTimer in response to SPS and/or periodic resourceallocation being activated.

In an example embodiment, in response to SPS and/or periodic resourceallocation being activated on a SCell (e.g., when a PDCCH with SPSdownlink assignment or SPS uplink grant or periodic resource allocationbeing transmitted by the eNB to the UE), the MAC entity may pause thesCellDeactivationTimer timer associated with the SCell. In an example,the MAC entity may resume the sCellDeactivationTimer in response to theSPS or periodic resource allocation being implicitly or explicitlyreleased for the SCell. In an example, in response to a UE validating aSPS or periodic resource allocation activation PDCCH/EPDCCH on asecondary cell or on a serving cell scheduling SPS/periodic resourceallocation on the secondary cell, the MAC entity may pause thesCellDeactivationTimer timer associated with the SCell. In an example,in response to the UE validating a SPS/periodic resource allocationrelease PDCCH/EPDCCH on a secondary cell or on a serving cell on behalfof the secondary cell, the MAC entity may resume thesCellDeactivationTimer timer associated with the SCell. In an example,in response to semi-persistent scheduling or periodic resourceallocation being released for a SCell, the UE may start thesCellDeactivationTimer and use the RRC configuration parameters (e.g.,the initial value of sCellDeactivationTimer) that were used beforedisabling the sCellDeactivationTimer when semi-persistent schedulingand/or periodic resource allocation was activated.

In an example embodiment, the timer may be managed based on the SPSgrant and or periodic resource allocation periodicity. In an example, aUE may be configured with semi-persistent scheduling and/or periodicresource allocation on a secondary cell. The eNB may activate SPS and/orperiodic resource allocation on a secondary cell by sending a PDCCH withSPS downlink assignment or SPS uplink grant or periodic resourceallocation on the secondary cell or on a serving cell scheduling thesecondary cell.

In an example, in response to a Semi-Persistent downlink assignment isconfigured and/or activated, the MAC entity may consider sequentiallythat the Nth assignment occurs in the subframe for which:(10*SFN+subframe)=[(10*SFNstart time+subframestarttime)+N*semiPersistSchedIntervalDL] modulo 10240, where SFNstart timeand subframestart time may be the SFN and subframe, respectively, at thetime the configured downlink assignment are (re-)initialized. In anexample embodiment, in response to semi-persistent scheduling downlinkassignment being (re-)initialized at subframestart time for a SCell(e.g., if a PDCCH at subframe n on the SCell or a scheduling servingcell indicates semi-persistent scheduling downlink assignment for theSCell), the UE MAC entity may restart the sCellDeactivationTimersequentially for the SCell at the subframes with SPS grant. In anexample, the UE MAC entity may stop the sequentially restarting thesCellDeactivationTimer after the semi-persistent scheduling isimplicitly or explicitly released on the SCell. In an example, before,during and after SPS is initialized/activated, the MAC entity mayrestart the timer according to dynamic grants, e.g., restart the timerin response to receiving dynamic grants. In response to receiving adynamic PDCCH grant in a TTI, the MAC entity may start/restart thesCellDeactivationTimer.

In an example, in response to a Semi-Persistent Scheduling uplink grantor periodic resource allocation being configured and/or activated on aTDD cell (e.g., cell with frame structure type 2), the MAC entity mayconsider sequentially that the Nth grant occurs in the subframe forwhich: (10*SFN+subframe)=[(10*SFNstart time+subframestarttime)+N*semiPersistSchedIntervalUL+Subframe_Offset*(N modulo 2)] modulo10240, where SFNstart time and subframestart time may be the SFN andsubframe, respectively, at the time the configured uplink grant are(re-)initialized. In an example, in response to a Semi-PersistentScheduling uplink grant and/or periodic resource allocation beingconfigured, the MAC entity may set the Subframe_Offset according to FIG.11 if twoIntervalsConfig is enabled by upper layer. In an example, iftwoIntervalsConfig is not enabled by upper layer, the MAC entity may setSubframe_Offset to 0.

In an example, the MAC entity may clear the configured uplink grantimmediately after implicitReleaseAfter number of consecutive new MACPDUs each containing zero MAC SDUs have been provided by theMultiplexing and Assembly entity, on the Semi-Persistent Schedulingresource.

In an example embodiment, in response to the semi-persistent uplinkscheduling grant and/or periodic resource allocation being(re-)initialized at subframe subframestart time for a SCell (e.g., if aPDCCH on the SCell or a scheduling serving cell indicatessemi-persistent scheduling uplink grant for the SCell), the UE MACentity may restart the sCellDeactivationTimer sequentially for the SCellat the subframes with SPS grant and/or periodic resource allocation. Inan example, the UE MAC entity may restart the sCellDeactivationTimersequentially for the SCell, k subframes before the subframes with SPSgrant and/or periodic resource allocation, wherein k, may be, forexample, a fixed number (e.g. 4 for FDD and 4, 5, or 6 or some othernumber in TDD depending on TDD configuration). Other example values fork may be supported. In an example, the UE MAC entity may stopsequentially restarting the sCellDeactivationTimer after thesemi-persistent scheduling and/or periodic resource allocation beingimplicitly or explicitly released on the SCell. In an example, before,during and after SPS and/or periodic resource allocation isinitialized/activated, the MAC entity may restart the timer according todynamic grants. In response to receiving a dynamic PDCCH grant in a TTI,the MAC entity may start/restart the sCellDeactivationTimer.

According to various embodiments, a device (such as, for example, awireless device, off-network wireless device, a base station, and/or thelike), may comprise one or more processors and memory. The memory maystore instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors,cause the device to perform a series of actions. Embodiments of exampleactions are illustrated in the accompanying figures and specification.Features from various embodiments may be combined to create yet furtherembodiments.

FIG. 27 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 2710, a first wireless device may one or moremessages. The one or more messages may comprise: a first radio networktemporary identifier (RNTI) for a first semi-persistent scheduling(SPS), and a second RNTI for a second SPS.

At 2720, the wireless device may receive a downlink control information(DCI) corresponding to one of the first RNTI or the second RNTI.According to an embodiment, the DCI format may be zero. According to anembodiment, the DCI may correspond to the first RNTI in response to acyclic redundancy check of the DCI being scrambled with the first RNTI.According to an embodiment, the DCI may comprise a field indicating thecyclic shift value if the DCI corresponds to the first RNTI. Accordingto an embodiment, an uplink transmission corresponding to the DCI mayemploy the cyclic shift value.

At 2730, a determination may be made as to whether the DCI correspondsto the first RNTI. If the DCI corresponds to the first RNTI, the DCI maybe validated at 2740 at least based on a cyclic shift value associatedwith the DCI. Otherwise, the DCI may be validated at 150 withoutconsidering the cyclic shift value.

At 2760, a determination may be made as to whether the validation wassuccessful. If the validation was successful, one of the first SPS orthe second SPS, corresponding to the DCI, may be activated at 2770.According to an embodiment, the DCI may be ignored in response to thevalidation not being successful. According to an embodiment, if the DCIcorresponds to the first RNTI, the validating may comprise checkingwhether the cyclic shift value associated with the DCI is zero.According to an embodiment, the validating may further comprise checkingwhether a transmit power control (TPC) command for scheduled physicaluplink shared channel (PUSCH) field value associated with the DCI iszero. According to an embodiment, the validating may further comprisechecking whether a most significant bit (MSB) of a modulation and codingscheme and redundancy version field value associated with the DCI iszero. According to an embodiment, the validating may further comprisechecking whether a new data indicator field value associated with theDCI is zero.

FIG. 8 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 2810, a first wireless device may one or moremessages. The one or more messages may comprise: a first radio networktemporary identifier (RNTI) for a first semi-persistent scheduling(SPS), and a second RNTI for a second SPS.

At 2820, the wireless device may receive a downlink control information(DCI) corresponding to one of the first RNTI or the second RNTI.According to an embodiment, the DCI format may be zero. According to anembodiment, the DCI may correspond to the first RNTI in response to acyclic redundancy check of the DCI being scrambled with the first RNTI.According to an embodiment, the DCI may comprise a field indicating thecyclic shift value if the DCI corresponds to the first RNTI.

At 2830, a determination may be made as to whether the DCI correspondsto the first RNTI. If the DCI corresponds to the first RNTI, the DCI maybe validated at 2840 at least based on a cyclic shift value associatedwith the DCI. Otherwise, the DCI may be validated at 2850 withoutconsidering the cyclic shift value. At 2860, a determination may be madeas to whether the validation was successful. If the validation wassuccessful, one of the first SPS or the second SPS, corresponding to theDCI, may be released at 2870.

According to an embodiment, the DCI may be ignored in response to thevalidation not being successful. According to an embodiment, if the DCIcorresponds to the first RNTI, the validating, may comprise checkingwhether the cyclic shift value associated with the DCI is zero.According to an embodiment, the validating may further comprise checkingwhether a transmit power control (TPC) command for scheduled physicaluplink shared channel (PUSCH) field value associated with the DCI iszero. According to an embodiment, the validating may further comprisechecking whether a modulation and coding scheme and redundancy versionfield value associated with the DCI is thirty-one. According to anembodiment, the validating may further comprise checking whether a newdata indicator field value associated with the DCI is zero. According toan embodiment, the validating may further comprise checking whether aresource block assignment and hopping resource allocation field valueassociated with the DCI is all ones.

FIG. 29 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 2910, a first wireless device may receive oneor more messages. The one or more messages may comprise configurationparameters for a plurality of cells comprising a secondary cell. At2930, a deactivation timer for the secondary cell may be disabled inresponse to the configuration parameters comprising periodic resourceallocation configuration parameters for configuring a periodic resourceallocation of the secondary cell (determined at 2920). At 2940, adownlink control information (DCI) indicating activation of the periodicresource allocation may be received. The DCI may comprise a radioresource assignment. At 2950, one or more transport blocks (TBs) may betransmitted employing the radio resource assignment.

According to an embodiment, the periodic resource allocation maycomprise semi-persistent scheduling. According to an embodiment, thedeactivation timer may be enabled for the secondary cell in response tothe periodic resource allocation being released. According to anembodiment, the periodic resource allocation may be explicitly released.According to an embodiment, the periodic resource allocation may beimplicitly released. According to an embodiment, the periodic resourceallocation may be released in response to the secondary cell beingreleased and reconfigured without periodic resource allocation.

FIG. 30 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 3010, a wireless device may receive one ormore messages. The one or more messages may comprise configurationparameters for a plurality of cells comprising a secondary cell,periodic resource allocation configuration parameters configuring aperiodic resource allocation for the secondary cell, and a deactivationtimer. At 3020, a downlink control information (DCI) indicatingactivation of the periodic resource allocation may be received. The DCImay comprise a radio resource assignment. At 3030, a status of thesecondary cell may be maintained as activated regardless of thedeactivation timer value. At 3040, one or more transport blocks (TBs)may be transmitted employing the radio resource assignment.

According to an embodiment, the periodic resource allocation maycomprise semi-persistent scheduling. According to an embodiment, themaintaining the status of the secondary cell may comprise pausing thedeactivation timer. The maintaining may last as long as the periodicresource allocation is activated. According to an embodiment, thedeactivation timer may resume in response to the periodic resourceallocation being released. According to an embodiment, the deactivationtimer may be started at a configured value in response to the periodicresource allocation being released. According to an embodiment, theconfiguration parameters may indicate the configured value.

FIG. 31 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 3110, a wireless device may receive one ormore messages. The one or more messages may comprise: configurationparameters for a plurality of cells comprising a secondary cell,periodic resource allocation configuration parameters comprising ascheduling interval, and a deactivation timer. At 3120, a downlinkcontrol information (DCI) indicating activation of the periodic resourceallocation may be received. The DCI may comprise a radio resourceassignment. At 3130, the deactivation timer for the secondary cell maybe started or restarted at least based on the scheduling interval. At3140, one or more transport blocks (TBs) may be transmitted employingthe radio resource assignment.

According to an embodiment, the periodic resource allocation maycomprise semi-persistent scheduling. According to an embodiment, aplurality of resources may be determined. A resource in the plurality ofperiodic resources may be determined at least based on the schedulinginterval. According to an embodiment, a resource in the plurality ofperiodic resources may be determined at least based on a time of aninitial resource. According to an embodiment, the starting or restartingmay be stopped in response to the periodic resource allocation beingreleased. According to an embodiment, the periodic resource allocationmay be explicitly released. According to an embodiment, the periodicresource allocation may be implicitly released. According to anembodiment, the deactivation timer may be started or restarted inresponse to receiving a DCI indicating a grant.

FIG. 32 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. At 3210, a wireless device may receive one ormore messages. The one or more messages may comprise configurationparameters for a plurality of cells comprising a secondary cell,periodic resource allocation configuration parameters configuring aperiodic resource allocation for the secondary cell, and a deactivationtimer. At 3220, a status of the secondary cell as activated may bemaintained regardless of the deactivation timer value. According to anembodiment, the maintenance of the status may persist as long as theperiodic resource allocation is activated. At 3230, one or moretransport blocks (TBs) may be transmitted employing radio resources.According to an embodiment, the radio resources may be indicated in aDCI.

In this specification, “a” and “an” and similar phrases are to beinterpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” In this specification,the term “may” is to be interpreted as “may, for example.” In otherwords, the term “may” is indicative that the phrase following the term“may” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities thatmay, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments.If A and B are sets and every element of A is also an element of B, A iscalled a subset of B. In this specification, only non-empty sets andsubsets are considered. For example, possible subsets of B={cell1,cell2} are: {cell1}, {cell2}, and {cell1, cell2}.

In this specification, parameters (Information elements: IEs) maycomprise one or more objects, and each of those objects may comprise oneor more other objects. For example, if parameter (IE) N comprisesparameter (IE) M, and parameter (IE) M comprises parameter (IE) K, andparameter (IE) K comprises parameter (information element) J, then, forexample, N comprises K, and N comprises J. In an example embodiment,when one or more messages comprise a plurality of parameters, it impliesthat a parameter in the plurality of parameters is in at least one ofthe one or more messages, but does not have to be in each of the one ormore messages. In an example, an IE may be a sequence of firstparameters (first IEs). The sequence may comprise one or more firstparameters. For example, a sequence may have a length max_length (e.g.1, 2, 3, etc.). A first parameter in the sequence may be identified bythe parameter index in the sequence. The sequence may be ordered.

Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may beimplemented as modules. A module is defined here as an isolatableelement that performs a defined function and has a defined interface toother elements. The modules described in this disclosure may beimplemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware,firmware, wetware (i.e. hardware with a biological element) or acombination thereof, all of which are behaviorally equivalent. Forexample, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in acomputer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine (suchas C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, Matlab or the like) or amodeling/simulation program such as Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, orLabVIEWMathScript. Additionally, it may be possible to implement modulesusing physical hardware that incorporates discrete or programmableanalog, digital and/or quantum hardware. Examples of programmablehardware comprise: computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs); field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs); and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs).Computers, microcontrollers and microprocessors are programmed usinglanguages such as assembly, C, C++ or the like. FPGAs, ASICs and CPLDsare often programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) such asVHSIC hardware description language (VHDL) or Verilog that configureconnections between internal hardware modules with lesser functionalityon a programmable device. Finally, it needs to be emphasized that theabove-mentioned technologies are often used in combination to achievethe result of a functional module.

The disclosure of this patent document incorporates material which issubject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection tothe facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent file or records, for the limited purposes required by law, butotherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example, and notlimitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevantart(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope. In fact, after reading theabove description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevantart(s) how to implement alternative embodiments. Thus, the presentembodiments should not be limited by any of the above describedexemplary embodiments. In particular, it should be noted that, forexample purposes, the above explanation has focused on the example(s)using LAA communication systems. However, one skilled in the art willrecognize that embodiments of the disclosure may also be implemented ina system comprising one or more TDD cells (e.g. frame structure 2 and/orframe structure 1). The disclosed methods and systems may be implementedin wireless or wireline systems. The features of various embodimentspresented in this disclosure may be combined. One or many features(method or system) of one embodiment may be implemented in otherembodiments. Only a limited number of example combinations are shown toindicate to one skilled in the art the possibility of features that maybe combined in various embodiments to create enhanced transmission andreception systems and methods.

In addition, it should be understood that any figures which highlightthe functionality and advantages, are presented for example purposesonly. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible andconfigurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than thatshown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may bere-ordered or only optionally used in some embodiments.

Further, the purpose of the Abstract of the Disclosure is to enable theU.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, andespecially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art whoare not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determinequickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of thetechnical disclosure of the application. The Abstract of the Disclosureis not intended to be limiting as to the scope in any way.

Finally, it is the applicant's intent that only claims that include theexpress language “means for” or “step for” be interpreted under 35U.S.C. 112. Claims that do not expressly include the phrase “means for”or “step for” are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving one or moremessages comprising configuration parameters for: a plurality of cellscomprising a secondary cell; a scheduling interval for periodic resourceallocation; and a deactivation timer; receiving downlink controlinformation (DCI) indicating activation of the periodic resourceallocation, wherein the DCI comprises a radio resource assignment forthe periodic resource allocation; transmitting, using the radio resourceassignment and during a first time period associated with the schedulinginterval, one or more packets; and restarting, based on the transmittingthe one or more packets, the deactivation timer for the secondary cell.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a commandindicating activation of the secondary cell.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the command comprises a media access control (MAC) controlelement (CE).
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the periodic resourceallocation comprises semi-persistent scheduling.
 5. The method of claim1, further comprising determining a plurality of periodic resources,wherein a resource of the plurality of periodic resources is determinedbased on the scheduling interval.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein theresource of the plurality of periodic resources is further determinedbased on a time of an initial resource of the plurality of periodicresources.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising stopping, basedon the periodic resource allocation being released, the deactivationtimer.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the stopping the deactivationtimer is based on the periodic resource allocation being releasedexplicitly.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the stopping thedeactivation timer is based on the periodic resource allocation beingreleased implicitly.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the restartingof the deactivation timer is further based on receiving DCI indicating agrant.
 11. A wireless device comprising: one or more processors; andmemory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the wireless device to: receive one or more messagescomprising configuration parameters for: a plurality of cells comprisinga secondary cell; a scheduling interval for periodic resourceallocation; and a deactivation timer; receive downlink controlinformation (DCI) indicating activation of the periodic resourceallocation, wherein the DCI comprises a radio resource assignment forthe periodic resource allocation; transmit, using the radio resourceassignment and during a first time period associated with the schedulinginterval, one or more packets; and restart, based on transmitting theone or more packets, the deactivation timer for the secondary cell. 12.The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executedby the one or more processors, cause the wireless device to receive acommand indicating activation of the secondary cell.
 13. The wirelessdevice of claim 12, wherein the command comprises a media access control(MAC) control element (CE).
 14. The wireless device of claim 11, whereinthe periodic resource allocation comprises semi-persistent scheduling.15. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the instructions, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the wireless device todetermine a plurality of periodic resources, wherein a resource of theplurality of periodic resources is determined based on the schedulinginterval.
 16. The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the resource ofthe plurality of periodic resources is further determined based on atime of an initial resource of the plurality of periodic resources. 17.The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executedby the one or more processors, cause the wireless device to stop, basedon the periodic resource allocation being released, the deactivationtimer.
 18. The wireless device of claim 17, wherein stopping thedeactivation timer is based on the periodic resource allocation beingreleased explicitly.
 19. The wireless device of claim 17, whereinstopping the deactivation timer is based on the periodic resourceallocation being released implicitly.
 20. The wireless device of claim11, wherein restarting the deactivation timer is further based onreceiving DCI indicating a grant.
 21. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium comprising instructions that, when executed, configure a wirelessdevice to: receive one or more messages comprising configurationparameters for: a plurality of cells comprising a secondary cell; ascheduling interval for periodic resource allocation; and a deactivationtimer; receive downlink control information (DCI) indicating activationof the periodic resource allocation, wherein the DCI comprises a radioresource assignment for the periodic resource allocation; transmit,using the radio resource assignment and during a first time periodassociated with the scheduling interval, one or more packets; andrestart, based on transmitting the one or more packets, the deactivationtimer for the secondary cell.
 22. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 21, wherein the instructions, when executed, configurethe wireless device to receive a command indicating activation of thesecondary cell.
 23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim22, wherein the command comprises a media access control (MAC) controlelement (CE).
 24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim21, wherein the periodic resource allocation comprises semi-persistentscheduling.
 25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21,wherein the instructions, when executed, configure the wireless deviceto determine a plurality of periodic resources, wherein a resource ofthe plurality of periodic resources is determined based on thescheduling interval.
 26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 25, wherein the resource of the plurality of periodic resources isfurther determined based on a time of an initial resource of theplurality of periodic resources.
 27. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the instructions, whenexecuted, configure the wireless device to stop, based on the periodicresource allocation being released, the deactivation timer.
 28. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein stoppingthe deactivation timer is based on the periodic resource allocationbeing released explicitly.
 29. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 27, wherein stopping the deactivation timer is based onthe periodic resource allocation being released implicitly.
 30. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 21, wherein restartingthe deactivation timer is further based on receiving DCI indicating agrant.
 31. A system comprising: a base station; and a wireless device,wherein the base station is configured to: transmit one or more messagescomprising configuration parameters for: a plurality of cells comprisinga secondary cell; a scheduling interval for periodic resourceallocation; and a deactivation timer; transmit downlink controlinformation (DCI) indicating activation of the periodic resourceallocation, wherein the DCI comprises a radio resource assignment forthe periodic resource allocation; wherein the wireless device isconfigured to: transmit, using the radio resource assignment and duringa first time period associated with the scheduling interval, one or morepackets; and restart, based on transmitting the one or more packets, thedeactivation timer for the secondary cell.
 32. The system of claim 31,wherein the base station is configured to transmit a command indicatingactivation of the secondary cell.
 33. The system of claim 32, whereinthe command comprises a media access control (MAC) control element (CE).34. The system of claim 31, wherein the periodic resource allocationcomprises semi-persistent scheduling.
 35. The system of claim 31,wherein the wireless device is configured to determine a plurality ofperiodic resources, wherein a resource of the plurality of periodicresources is determined based on the scheduling interval.
 36. The systemof claim 35, wherein the wireless device is configured to determine theresource of the plurality of periodic resources based on a time of aninitial resource of the plurality of periodic resources.
 37. The systemof claim 31, wherein the wireless device is configured to stop, based onthe periodic resource allocation being released, the deactivation timer.38. The system of claim 37, wherein the wireless device is configured tostop the deactivation timer based on the periodic resource allocationbeing released explicitly.
 39. The system of claim 37, wherein thewireless device is configured to stop the deactivation timer based onthe periodic resource allocation being released implicitly.
 40. Thesystem of claim 31, wherein the wireless device is configured to restartthe deactivation timer based on receiving DCI indicating a grant.